


Monsters Like Me

by Aeon_Wolf



Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, F/F, OOC Bella
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2019-10-30 22:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 41,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17837129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeon_Wolf/pseuds/Aeon_Wolf
Summary: The new girl in town, Bella Swan, is causing quite the stir in the small town of Forks. Including in the Cullen family. Rosalie finds herself intrigued by the girl despite herself. But there’s more to Bella than meets the eye. A dark secret, demonic powers, and an eons old rivalry threatens to turn Rosalie’s world upside down.





	1. Chapter 1

I.

Rosalie sped off in the direction of Seattle, fuming to herself. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, but she decided to leave it until she got into the city. Luckily, Seattle was a short run from Forks as a vampire runs. She slowed her pace as she approached the populated parts of the city. She smoothed the wrinkles from her shirt, shaking her blonde hair out, running her fingers through it before stepping out into the Seattle nightlife. She pulled her phone from her pocket, seeing she had a text from her pixie-like sister Alice. 

_ Call me. Please.  _

Rosalie sighed. She really didn’t want to, but she knew Alice would be on her ass later if she didn’t, so she pressed the speed dial number she had assigned to her sister, putting the phone to her ear as she went in search of a reasonable club to release some steam. 

“Rosalie!” Alice exclaimed from the other end of the line. Rosalie winced at the high pitched tone, holding the phone away from her ear a little. 

“What is it Alice?” She asked. “What was so important that it couldn’t wait until I cool off a little.” She said through gritted teeth. She could almost see Alice bouncing up and down on the other end. 

“I just wanted to tell you to come home when you’re ready! I’ll cover for you.” She said gleefully. The blonde vampire frowned, her brow furrowed. 

“What are you up to Alice?” She asked blatantly. Alice just chuckled. 

“That’s for me to know, dear sister. And you to find out.” She teased before hanging up. Rosalie growled, swearing under the breath, staring at her phone before she put it back in her pocket. She shook her head to herself, continuing her walk around the city. 

It wasn’t that she didn’t love her family. She did. In her own strange way. But it was very clear she was simply different than they were. Jasper and Alice, along with Esme and Carlisle were sickeningly sweet, both being mated pairs. Rosalie rolled her eyes. She had never particularly cared about mating. Not after Royce. She still bore the scars from that fateful night. Invisible scars she didn’t think she’d ever completely heal from. And after it turned out that Emmett, who she thought might have been her mate, was not, she lost what hope she had. 

It didn’t help that she knew that Carlisle had turned her, mainly in hopes of her being a mate for Edward. But she could barely stand her brother. He was a brooding, yet self-righteous individual who looked down on anyone who he considered less than, which included her. She cared for him only as far as that he was a Cullen, thus family. And she was extremely protective of her family. 

But sometimes, all of it was just too much for her and she needed to get away and unwind. Occasionally she brought Emmett with her, but his eternal childishness was part of why she wanted to get away this time, so she went alone. 

She wandered the city for a while, humans keeping their distance. Because although she was extremely beautiful, inhumanly beautiful, their instincts kept them away from her. They knew somewhere in their minds that she was dangerous. Finally, she came upon a suitable club.  _ Trinity _ . She approached the bouncer, cutting in front of the already growing line. There were some murmurs and angry muttering, but one glance at the bouncer and a little smile got her immediate access. 

Inside was relatively tasteful. A DJ station at the back of the dancefloor, the floor itself filled with sweaty humans, grinding away on each other. Rosalie wrinkled her nose a little, going to sit at the bar. Immediately, a brunette female bartender approached her. 

“What can I get you?” She purred. Rosalie raised an eyebrow at the blatant attempt to flirt but kept her cool.  

“Long Island Iced Tea.” She said with disinterest. The woman nodded, proceeding to make her drink. Unfortunately for Rosalie, alcohol had no effect on her. But it was one of the few substances that she could consume without it turning to ash in her mouth. And she enjoyed the burn. 

“Here you go babe. I’m Becca, by the way.” She said with a wink before moving on to her next customer. Rosalie sighed, taking a sip of her drink, relishing the burn as it went down her throat. It wasn’t like blood, but it was fulfilling for what she wanted it for. She turned in her bar stool, gazing at the humans on the dance floor. If she had weaker control, being around all the sweaty humans, blood pounding in the veins would be difficult. But she felt no thirst because of them. 

She prided herself on her control, being only second to Carlisle. She had never consumed human blood in her undead life. Certainly, she had killed Royce and his friends for what they had done to her, but she had been careful to not spill any of their blood. She never wanted anything of his inside her again, she recalled bitterly before taking another drink. 

As she watched the humans, she caught a whiff of a rather attractive scent. She took a deep breath. It smelt strangely of burning wood, like a campfire. It had a rather smoky smell, but it wasn’t wholly unpleasant. She scanned the room for the source of the scent, but before she could pinpoint it, another body slid into the stool next to her. 

She turned to tell the individual off, but the words got caught in her throat. Beside her sat a brunette woman, slightly shorter than herself. She had a playful grin on her face and looking at Rosalie rather intently. The vampire took another sniff, noting that the smokey wood smell originated from the woman next to her. Rosalie tilted her head to the side. “Can I help you?” 

The woman shrugged. “Can you?” She asked playfully. Rosalie rolled her eyes, taking another sip from her drink. 

“What exactly do you want?” She asked, her icy mask covering her features once again. But the woman seemed unphased. 

“A dance.” She said confidently. Normally, Rosalie would have scoffed and told the woman off immediately. But there was just something to her. Something that caught Rosalie’s attention. A slight tightening in her gut. So instead she nodded, setting her half finished drink on the bar, leaving a few bills with it for the bartender, motioning to said bartender who nodded and came to pick up the payment and the unfinished drink. 

The woman who sat next to her, got up from her stool and stood in front of Rosalie, offering her a hand, bowing her head slightly. Rosalie took the hand offered to her, being pulled to her feet with a surprising amount of force for a human. Especially considering Rosalie was a vampire. But the blonde didn’t think to dwell on it further as the woman pulled her onto the dance floor. 

Rosalie found herself swaying to the music with the woman, her hands on the other woman’s shoulders. The unknown woman’s hands safely on her waist. Rosalie normally would tense up at such contact, but the touch was so light and above anywhere that could be considered sexual that she found herself okay in the moment. It was almost like the other woman knew of Rosalie’s aversions to physical contact in that way. 

The vampire found herself drifting closer to the woman as they danced. The humans seemed to be giving both of them a rather wide berth on the dance floor, despite the floor being packed with people. Something that Rosalie was used to. Humans almost always gave her and her siblings their space. Instinctively knowing that getting too close to them could mean death. Though the woman in front of her seemed rather oblivious to that instinctual trigger. 

But all of these warning signs, Rosalie ignored. Her brain more fixated on the smell emanating from her. And her strangely colored eyes. Not that Rosalie had much room to talk. Her golden eyes were not exactly common. But orange eyes. Those were even rarer. She supposed they could have been contacts, but the way the fluorescent dance lights caught them eliminated that possibility. If Rosalie didn’t know better, she would have thought that the woman might have been a vampire halfway through their transition to animal blood. But on further inspection, the woman had a heartbeat and blood flowing through her veins. Definitely human. 

The two, lost in the song, found themselves drifting even closer together until no light could be seen between them. Rosalie herself, focused solely on the woman in front of her. The two danced for a few songs, before the woman took her hand and led her from the dance floor. She led them to a quieter part of the club, where other couples were littered about, some in rather intense make-out sessions. Rosalie thought she could make out a couple giving discreet handjobs, which she turned her nose up in disgust before turning her attention back to the woman who had captured her attention. 

“I never caught your name.” She said. The woman shrugged. 

“You can call me Bella.” She said coyly. Rosalie raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. Something about that answer seemed strange to her. 

“Is that short for something?” She asked. Bella nodded. 

“My true name is… well let's just say that you probably wouldn’t believe me. Bella is what I go by nowadays.” She said, not exactly answering Rosalie’s question. 

“O-okay,” Rosalie said cautiously, now that she had put some space between her and Bella, her senses were beginning to come back to her. And Bella felt like she could somehow be a threat. And she could already feel her body tensing up defensively. 

“You are a wonderful dancer,” Bella said, oblivious to the turmoil Rosalie was experiencing. Her orange eyes giving off a strange glow, which Rosalie chalked up to the club lighting. She was sure her eyes were giving off a similar glow under the colorful lighting. 

“Thank you.” She said cooly, trying desperately to return to her icy persona, finding it very difficult. Which was strange in and of itself. She saw Bella flex her back muscles a little, like she was experiencing a little discomfort. 

“I’m sorry to leave you so suddenly, but I have matters I need to attend to.” She said, grabbing Rosalie’s hand, raising it to her lips, kissing the back of Rosalie’s hand. The blonde furrowed her brow at the gesture, a rather old fashioned action that she thought she had seen the last of a few decades ago. 

“I’m sure our paths will cross again,” Bella said, giving her a teasing two finger salute before turning her back and disappearing into the crowd. Rosalie watched her retreating form. And she could have sworn that she saw a faint red glow coming from under Bella’s shirt. Rosalie just shook her head. It was obviously just the club lights reflecting off of the brunette’s skin or something. 

Rosalie sighed, making her own way to the exit, her mind reeling. Why had she entertained that human? She despised humans, mostly out of jealousy. They had what she most desperately wanted. The ability to have a child. The ability to grow old and die. To not have to live forever, frozen in time. She knew that Carlisle meant well, but to this day, she still wished that he had let her die in that alley. 

She felt her throat burn, this time with hunger. She held her breath as she made her way out of the city, heading back to her home. On the way back, she scented some deer and made a short detour to hunt. She snuck up on a group of deer, lunging quickly, grabbing the nearest one, snapping its neck quickly before sinking her teeth into it and gulping down the blood. 

She knew that human blood was more fulfilling and tasty, if what her siblings described was true. But since she had nothing to compare animal blood to, she didn’t mind it as much as she thought her brother Jasper did. She knew he struggled the most out of all of them. His empathy forcing him to feed off of the thirst of the rest of the family, coupled with his time in the newborn wars. But he was trying his best and Rosalie tried her best to lessen the burden on him. 

Rosalie drained a couple more deer before she found herself making her way back to Forks, her mind full of thoughts of a certain brunette with orange eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I once said about 6 months ago that I wanted to write a multi-chapter Rosalie/Bella story. So here that is. It's not necessary to read the one-shot this is based on since there are some changes from that. 
> 
> That said... This is basically one of those "Twilight retold" things with my own flare. So it largely follows the major events from the source material. The main difference is that Edward isn't mated to Bella and Emmett isn't mated to Rosalie. And obviously... 
> 
> Anyway, this is very much a heaven & hell, angels vs demons type story, so if that sketches you out, don't read it. Also, all the general warnings for stories that include demons as protagonists. I'm going to go into some pretty occult shit in here. Nothing super graphic but you're meant to sympathize with a demon. So... yeah. This story is also pretty much solely told from Rosalie's point of view, just written in 3rd person instead of 1st. 
> 
> Have fun.


	2. Chapter 2

I.

Rosalie made her way up to her room without speaking to any of her siblings. She made her way out to the balcony, resting her forearms on the top of the railing, her hands clasped in front of her. She sighed, looking up at the stars twinkling in the night sky. She heard a knock at her door. “Come in.” She said quietly.

The door opened slowly to reveal Emmett, who made his way out to the balcony with her, his back leaning against the railing, arms folded. He had a silly grin on his face. “Have a good night out Rosie?” He asked. Rosalie rolled her eyes at the nickname. Emmett was the only one she allowed to get away with calling her that. Anyone else that had tried had found themselves very close to losing a limb.

“It was… passable.” She said slowly, running through her memories of the night. The appealing campfire scent. The strange orange eyes. The red glow. He turned around, putting an arm around Rosalie’s shoulders. The blonde stiffened a little but forced herself to relax. This was Emmett. He wouldn’t harm her.

“Excited for another riveting year of school to start tomorrow?” He asked, seemingly picking up on the fact she did not want to discuss what exactly had occurred during her outing. Emmett had always had a knack for being able to read her very well.

“Ecstatic.” She drawled sarcastically. Another year of being around teenaged humans. There was always at least a handful that humiliated themselves by asking her out each year. She turned them down every time. Every school, she knew she had a reputation. Ice queen. Head bitch. Whatever the title was, she was not fussed. It kept the humans away from her for the most part and that’s what she wanted.

“Hey, at least we’re seniors this time. Only have to suffer through one year.” He tried to point out the upside. Rosalie just scoffed.

“Sometimes I don’t understand why we don’t just go to college instead.” She said. While she had her fair share of completed degrees, high school was always just a drag to her. She’d much rather be working on her cars in the garage.

“It’s important to Carlisle and Esme,” Emmett said. Rosalie glanced at him with a small smile, before turning back to the stars, nodding.

“You’re right.” She said. “It doesn’t mean I have to like it.” She said. Emmett just chuckled.

“C’mon Rosie, think of all the humans you get to torment.” He said in an attempt to cheer her up. Rosalie chuckled.

“I suppose.” She replied, nudging her brother with her shoulder. Emmett grinned.

“Come play video games with me?” He asked. Rosalie rolled her eyes, shaking her head, but still smiling.

“I’ll watch, but that’s it.” She replied Emmett pouted.

“But-” He tried but she gave him a withering look that made him stop. “Fine, just come spend time with the family.” He said. Rosalie sighed but nodded, following her brother to their living room to spend the rest of the night, mechanics magazine in her hands, multitasking in watching Emmett swear at the TV each time his character got killed and reading up on some of the new models that everyone was waiting in anticipation for.

II.

The first day of school went just as Rosalie expected. Every time the Cullens started a new school, there was always a certain amount of whispering about who the new kids were, how hot they were and everyone speculating who was single. It made Rosalie sick.

She had already been asked out by Eric Yorkie, Mike Newton, and Tyler Crowley, all of whom she had turned down, rather ruthlessly. By lunch, everyone knew to leave Rosalie Hale alone and she didn’t have any more guys actually approach her, though there were certainly a large number of people whispering how hot the blonde girl was and how they’d kill to get a night with her. It disgusted her. And clearly disturbed Edward, who growled to himself every so often.

“What’s with the stick up your ass Eddie?” Emmett asked at lunch as they all pushed the food around on their trays.

“Don’t call me Eddie,” Edward snapped. “If you knew some of the vile things people think about us.” He said, turning to his brother. Emmett laughed.

“Hey man, it’s not their fault they can’t stay away from these babies.” He said, flexing his arm muscles and kissing his bicep. Rosalie shook her head in amusement.

“Do try to control yourself, Emmett. You wouldn’t want Lauren Mallory or Jessica Stanley getting the wrong idea.” Rosalie said with some disinterest. Emmett shrugged.

“That Stanley girl seems to have more of a thing for Eddie here.” He said, slapping his brother on the back. Edward grunted, glaring at Emmett who just laughed loudly in response. Alice and Jasper sat close together, watching their siblings in amusement. Jasper always found high school tough, his empathy feeding off of all the variable and constantly changing emotions of hormonal humans. Alice was his anchor, to keep him from going insane.

“Crowley still seems to think he has a chance with you Rosalie,” Edward said. Rosalie raised an eyebrow.

“Was his humiliation not enough for one day?” She asked. Edward shrugged.

“His thoughts indicate that he’s going to wait a couple weeks for you to get used to the school and then try again. He thinks that it’s probably just nerves as to why you wouldn’t agree to go out with him.” Edward said. Rosalie scoffed. As if she’d ever entertain the idea of hooking up with a human. Or god forbid, dating one. No, relationships, love, sex. None of it was for her. Not with her history.

“Don’t think like that Rosalie,” Edward said. “You’ll find someone eventually.” Rosalie glared at her brother. She knew he couldn’t turn it off, but she hated it when he just spoke out loud about her thoughts like he was having a conversation with her. And she promptly began singing in her head. Edward just put his hands up in surrender.

The bell rang not long after, all five of the Cullen kids throwing away their untouched lunches and heading to their next class. Edward and Rosalie happened to have AP biology together. Despite their grade difference, this class was typically a mixture of juniors and seniors. The two sat next to each other, being assigned each other to be lab partners, much to the dismay of their teacher.

“He really seems desperate to separate us, ” Rosalie said, so low that only Edward could hear her. He nodded.

“He’s already in on the gossip about the private and outcast Cullen kids. He thinks he’s doing us a kindness by trying to assign us someone from outside the family.” He replied. Rosalie snorted.

“Right.” She said, before turning her attention back to Mr. Banner. Class was over quickly. The first day typically always being about getting to know the people sitting next to you and going over the class syllabus.

Rosalie went to the rest of her classes for the day, Art and History before she went out to the parking lot to meet up with her siblings. She met Alice and Emmett next to her cherry red BMW, her pride and joy. Generally, Carlisle wanted them to remain as much on the down low as possible, but Rosalie would not be parted from her car. So when students that morning had seen Rosalie and Emmett step out of her car, there had been a lot of envious whispers.

“So, how was your first day, Rose?” Alice asked.

“Manageable.” She said curtly, unlocking her car, getting into the driver’s seat, Emmett getting into the passenger's side. “I’ll see you at home.” She said. Alice nodded, going over to Edward’s silver Volo where he and Jasper waited for her. Rosalie backed out of the spot she was in, driving off, not giving any of the students of Forks High School a second look.

“How was it, really?” Emmett asked once they were on the road, speeding at least 20 miles over the speed limit.

“It’s just more of the same, Emmett,” Rosalie replied. “Hormonal teenagers, classes that I’m sure I could actually teach and a full day of pretending we’re humans.” She paused. “I just want to get home and spend some time in the garage.” She said. “Alone.” She added. Emmett just nodded, picking up on her stress levels. Despite not being mates, Emmett was more in tune with Rosalie’s feelings and mood swings than anyone else in the family, except perhaps Jasper. Though his gift gave him an edge. Something that Rosalie appreciated about him. He knew when to stop. Most of the time.

Rosalie drove in silence back to the Cullen home, pulling into their driveway. She got out of the car, Emmett shutting his door very carefully. He had once accidentally scratched the paint on Rosalie’s car and he still shuttered at the very imagery of things Rosalie had threatened him with. She grabbed her bag from the backseat before making her way up to the house.

“Rosalie, how was your first day?” She was greeted by Esme, who pulled the blonde into a hug. Rosalie, who generally avoided physical contact always made an exception for the montherly vampire.

“Like any other first day of high school Esme,” Rosalie replied, extracting herself from Esme’s embrace. “I’ll be in the garage,” she said, dropping her bag on the table and disappearing into their garage.

She shut the door behind her, sighing and walking over to her project car, a 95’ Jeep Wrangler X. A project she was working on restoring for Emmett. She gathered her hair and threw it into a ponytail before opening the hood, bending over to inspect the work she had already done on it. The car had been mostly totaled when she got it, and it definitely would have been cheaper to just buy a 95’ Wrangler X in good condition, rather than restore one, but she wasn’t worried about what was cheaper. It was all about the experience of fixing the damn thing.

She was currently in the processes of fixing the transmission, but she was waiting on a few parts before she could fix it completely. She sighed, instead, getting down, grabbing a flashlight and getting under the car which was propped up on a couple of ramps, a jack holding up the other end. It’s not like a car falling on her would actually do her any damage, but she could probably undo all the work that had gone into the car if it did fall. Looking up at the bottom of the car, she sighed, grabbing a wrench from the floor, looking back up at the wheel axles, loosening a bolt.

III.

Rosalie’s life for the next few weeks followed this pattern. Evenings were spent engaging in her hobbies; reading, working on the Jeep, listening to music, hunting. Days were spent at school, avoiding all the humans as much as possible. Word had spread like wildfire and by the end of the first week, the gossip about the Cullens was in full swing. Rosalie hated it.

It was always about how weird the Cullens were. How gross it was that Alice and Jasper were dating, despite living together. Speculation about which of her brothers she was dating, which Rosalie found absolutely disgusting. Why they never seemed to eat. Why they kept to themselves. Why they never seemed to socialize with others. And most of all, why they were always missing on the few sunny days that graced Forks’ sky.

Luckily for her, the humans left her alone. After she had snarled at Tyler enough, almost making him wet himself in the third week, they all finally seemed to get the hint. That she was not going to entertain their whims and that she would make them cry if necessary. It wasn’t that she took great pleasure out of doing so, though she did admit to herself that it made her feel a bit better. Ever since her evening in Seattle three weeks prior, she had felt grumpier than normal, her temper being set off at the smallest things. Even Emmett had commented on it.

“Rose, you sure there’s nothing wrong?” He asked her one afternoon on their way home. She shook her head.

“I’m fine Emmett.” She snapped. Emmett recoiled slightly, not bringing up the subject again in the following weeks.

One evening, Alice got a faraway look in her eyes when they were all gathered in their living room. It wasn’t a common event for all of them to be in one place, but the family tried at least once a week. Edward’s head shot towards Alice, frowning.

“What is it, Alice?” Carlisle asked curiously as she came out of the vision. Rosalie, for her part, didn’t even look up from the magazine she had in her hands.

“We’re getting a new student at school tomorrow.” She said, both Edward and Alice looking at Rosalie. The blonde felt their eyes on her and looked up.

“What?” She asked as the rest of the family looked at her. She glared at all of them. “What are you all looking at?” She insisted.

“The new student’s name is Bella Swan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never really written Rosalie as a character before so I'm still trying to get into the groove of characterizing her properly. I've had my fair share of experience with Bella (especially with the kind of personality I'm writing her with in this particular story) and then reading about Rosalie/Bella but it's still a new experiencing to actually write Rosalie. Especially trying to capture her past properly without going in too deep this early. 
> 
> Anyway, I'm glad that ya'll are excited about this story. I know I'm hype about it. We'll be getting to know Bella a little bit better in the next chapter, so that will be exciting.


	3. Chapter 3

I.

The next morning, Rosalie and Emmett got out of Rosalie’s car, early in the morning. Yet they weren’t the first to arrive. In the parking lot sat a beat-up reddish orange truck that Rosalie swore was made before she was even born. It was one hell of a junker. But one sniff confirmed to Rosalie that it belonged to the girl that she had not been able to push out of her mind. 

Bella Swan. 

“What the hell is that awful smell?” Emmett said, wrinkling his nose, looking at the truck. Rosalie frowned.

“What do you mean?” She asked. Emmett looked surprised at her. 

“You can’t smell that? You’ve always had one of the most sensitive noses for this stuff. It smells like burnt rubber and sulfur.” He replied. Rosalie raised an eyebrow. 

“Smells fine to me.” She said with a shrug. It wasn’t unheard of that two different vampires smelt a different scent on a human, but it wasn’t common. And worth taking note of. The rest of the Cullens arrived in Edward’s Volvo, each of her siblings wrinkling their noses as they got out of the car. 

“What a disgusting smell,” Edward said like it had somehow personally offended him. 

“Not the most pleasant odor, I admit.” Jasper agreed, Alice nodded. Rosalie looked at them curiously. 

“You don’t smell it, Rose?” Edward inquired to which Rosalie shook her head. 

“Smells fine to me. Kind of like a smokey campfire.” She shrugged, looking up as the scent got stronger. Her eyes felt pulled in the direction of the main office where she saw a familiar set of orange eyes and brunette hair emerging from behind the door. 

“So that’s Bella Swan,” Emmett remarked, all five of the siblings looking in her direction. She had a bag slung over her shoulder, dressed in skinny jeans, chucks and a short-sleeved, v-neck t-shirt, despite it being overcast and somewhat chilly. Yet the human didn’t shiver at all. She had a piece of paper clutched in her hand, probably a class schedule. 

Bella seemed to look around, her eyes finding Rosalie, whom she smirked and winked at. All of Rosalie’s siblings turned to stare at her as Rosalie blinked. If she could have blushed, she probably would have turned bright red. Rosalie thought the girl was going to walk over to them, but she was intercepted by Eric Yorkie. The blonde could just make out the Asian boy talking Bella’s ear off, asking her if she wanted to be interviewed for the school newspaper to which she, uncharacteristically in Rosalie’s opinion, shyly declined. 

“Earth to Rosalie.” She heard Emmett say next to her. She turned to look at him. Or more like glare at him. 

“What?” She snapped. Emmett frowned. 

“What’s up with you and the human?” He asked, nodding his head in Bella’s direction. 

“I met her at the club a few weeks ago. Danced with her.” Rosalie shrugged, putting her disinterested, icy exterior back in place. Edward looked at her like she had grown two heads. 

“You never…” He trailed off, glancing back at the new girl who was being persuaded by Eric to let him walk her to class, to which she seemed to laugh under her breath before agreeing. 

“Drop it, Edward,” Rosalie warned her brother before stalking off towards her first class of the day.

II.

The day seemed to move agonizingly slow. Rosalie didn’t share any classes with Bella before lunch, so the next time she saw the girl, it was lunchtime. She had, however, gleaned a bit of information from all the gossip flying around the school. She did appreciate that the student body seemed to have found something more interesting than her and her siblings. Finally.

She met up with Emmett outside her last class before lunch, the two walking towards the cafeteria building. “Did you have class with her yet?” Emmett asked. Rosalie shook her head. 

“No. Have you?” She asked. He nodded. 

“She’s in my math class second period.” He said. “She seems kind of quiet. Doesn’t really like talking too much. Teacher made her introduce herself to which she said, and I quote ‘I’m Bella. Transferred from Arizona.’ and then sat back down. And didn’t speak for the rest of the class.” He said with a shrug. “Seemed rather disinterested in the whole thing, to be honest.” Rosalie frowned. Was this the same flirtatious and confident individual she had met three weeks prior? 

Edward, Alice, and Jasper joined them as the five Cullens walked past the large windows to the cafeteria building. All of them could pick up on Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory gossiping about them. “Those are the Cullens.” Rosalie heard Jessica’s high pitched voice say. She chanced a glance and found Bella sitting at their table, leaning back lazily in her chair, one of her arms slung across the back of it. 

“The short one is Alice Cullen, she’s dating the blonde boy, Jasper Hale, the one that looks like he’s in pain.” Emmett laughed at this description of Jasper who just groaned to himself. Alice smiled leaning over and kissing him as they all took their seats at their usual table. 

“The big one that looks like he’s on steroids, that’s Emmett Cullen,” Lauren said. Emmett grinned, flexing his muscles. Rosalie just shook her head in amusement. 

“The copperhead one that looks like he just got out of bed, that’s Edward Cullen. Totally gorgeous, but he doesn't date anyone. So don’t waste your time.” Jessica said bitterly. Emmett laughed loudly, nudging his brother. 

“Sounds like Stanley is a little put out that you rejected her.” He teased. 

“And the beautiful blonde one, that’s Rosalie Hale. She’s kind of a bitch.” Lauren said. Rosalie scoffed. Like somehow Lauren wasn’t a bitch herself. 

“Alice and Jasper are together. And I think Emmett and Rosalie are together. Edward is the only single one.” Jessica said. Rosalie rolled her eyes. The girl seemed to really have gotten it stuck in her head that she and Emmett were together. Rosalie though, found herself wanting to stalk over there and clarify if only so Bella would get the wrong idea. Rosalie frowned. Why should she care about what a human thinks about her? What was wrong with her?

“Only Alice and Jasper are together. Rosalie, Emmett and Edward are all single, Jess.” Angela Webber spoke up. Rosalie found herself feeling a little appreciation for the Webber girl. Sure she was human and therefore Rosalie generally wasn’t a huge fan, but she did stick up for them to her friends. Bella though, seemed rather disinterested in any of the Cullens. 

“Were they raised as siblings?” Bella asked quietly. Jessica and Lauren both looked at her like she had grown a tail 

“Uh, no idea,” Angela replied. “As far as I know, they were all adopted when they were somewhat older, since Dr. and Mrs. Cullen couldn’t have kids themselves. Jasper and Rosalie are the only two that are actually related.” Angela guessed. Bella shrugged. 

“As long as they weren’t, then who cares? Besides, there’s probably more to the story than that.” Bella said, looking at her nails, clearly disinterested in the conversation. Jessica and Lauren both floundered. 

“But, it’s just gross!” Jessica said. “I mean, dating someone you live with like that.” She said. “Your sibling!”

“They don’t sound like they’ve been raised as siblings at all. Except for the Hales. And I’ve heard of far worse situations. Been witness to them.” Bella replied. “Trust me, there are far more… unsavory situations in the world concerning relationships between people who are family.” Bella said. Rosalie frowned. 

“What does she mean Edward?” She asked. Normally, she was loathe to rely on Edward’s gift to know what people were thinking. She thought it was a breach of privacy, but she just couldn’t help it. Her interest in Bella outweighing her personal objections. Edward frowned, concentrating on the new girl that had all the Cullens, Rosalie especially, rather captivated. 

“I can’t read her.” He said seriously. “Nothing. Silence.” He said. Rosalie frowned. They had never come across a human that was able to thwart Edward’s gift. She had to admit, despite her own budding interest with the girl, that felt threatening to her. 

“I can’t sense her either. It’s like a black hole is where she is sitting.” Jasper contributed. “A void, free of emotions.” This made Rosalie even more on edge. There was an explanation for Edward not being able to read her. She could have a strong gift. They didn’t normally manifest in humans, but it wasn’t unheard of. Bypassing Jasper’s gift though. Rosalie had never heard of anyone being able to. Not even Renata with the Volturi. While a part of one’s emotions was a mental thing, there were also physical reactions corresponding to someone’s emotions and therefore, Jasper should have been able to sense _ something _ . Unless this human was both a physical and mental shield. Which was unheard of. 

“Alice?” Edward asked. Rosalie noticed that he was actively avoiding looking at Bella. Like something about the girl set off his fight or flight instincts, and he was leaning towards flight. Alice concentrated, trying to force a vision. Something that wasn’t always possible, but it didn’t hurt to try. Alice furrowed her brow. 

“Nothing. It’s like with the La Push wolves. Anytime I try to concentrate on her, just nothing. Nothing at all.” Alice said. This final revelation, that Bella was able to evade all of their gifts really set Rosalie on edge. If she was human, her leg would probably be bouncing up and down in anxiety. 

Bella’s more… captivating personality aside, this represented a grave threat to her family. And Rosalie did not take kindly to the idea that one human could do all that, even if it was unconscious. If Rosalie didn’t know any better she’d say that the girl was certainly not human. But strange eye color and shielding abilities aside, she displayed all the characteristics of being nothing more than an extremely gifted human. Rosalie could smell the blood rushing through Bella’s veins, see the slight rise and fall of her chest with each breath. Hear the steady heartbeat in her chest. She observed the nervous ticks that Bella had. The girl ran her fingers through her hair every so often. Bit her lip when she was thinking. Tapped her foot against the leg of the table when she was frustrated with whatever Mallory and Stanley were saying. 

No, Bella was human through and through. Rosalie was sure of it. And that put her into something of a bind. If it were another supernatural creature, she wouldn’t hesitate to team up with Jasper and Emmett and take care of the threat. Though she was certain that Carlisle would protest. But this girl was human. And despite her dislike of them, she didn’t relish taking a human’s life if it could be avoided. 

Off in the distance, Rosalie heard the bell ring, signifying the end of lunch and start of the passing period to their next class. The Cullens threw away their untouched food, splitting off to their respective classes. 

III. 

Rosalie and Edward sat at their shared lab table, as students trickled in. Mr. Banner walked in and started writing their next assignment on the board with a few notes. Edward was about to say something as a familiar human walked into the room. Rosalie and Edward both immediately stiffened at the sight of Bella Swan, walking casually into the classroom, going up to Banner and handing him a slip of paper. 

Rosalie heard a snarl escape Edward’s throat. And strangely, it seemed like Bella heard it as well, even though that was impossible. It had been so quiet that anyone without vampire super hearing wouldn’t have even noticed it. But Bella’s head turned toward Edward and Rosalie as Banner handed her back the slip of paper. “I’m sorry Ms. Swan, we’re full up on pairs for lab partners, so I may need to assign you to an existing group of two.” He said apologetically. Bella nodded, glancing back over at the two vampires, raising an eyebrow slightly at them. Rosalie, for her part, bit her lip a little. It was like the human was staring straight into her very being. 

Edward, on the other hand, barely suppressed a loud growl, jumping from his seat. “I can’t…” He whispered so low that only Rosalie could hear him. He made up some excuse about not feeling well, Banner excusing him to the nurse’s office before he rushed out of the room, clearly very uncomfortable at the prospect of being in such close quarters with Bella. For what reason though, Rosalie had no idea. She didn’t feel anything inherently off about her. The girl gave off a similar confident, flirtatious vibe that she had the first time the two had met. 

“It seems like there’s an empty seat after all. Please take a seat next to Ms. Hale for the time being. I’ll get a solution sorted as soon as possible.” Banner said. Bella nodded, making her way over to the empty seat, setting her bag on the ground, resting her forearms on the desk, shooting Rosalie an amused look. 

“Your brother ran off in a hurry.” She said casually. Rosalie frowned. 

“He… must have eaten something bad at lunch.” She deflected. Bella chuckled. 

“I didn’t see you guys eating much of anything at lunch but alright. I’ll accept that, for now.” She said, turning to the front of the room as Mr. Banner started talking about the different phases of mitosis. If Rosalie was capable, she probably would have fallen asleep. She knew everything in the AP biology lesson plan like the back of her hand by now. She had a degree in biology after all. 

Rosalie felt a slip of paper slide over to her. She raised an eyebrow, glancing at Bella before looking down at it. 

_ If you’re half as bored as you look… _

Rosalie chuckled to herself, nodding while still looking at the front of the room. She picked up her pen, elegantly scrawling an answer in reply. 

_ Biology is a pretty easy subject for me. _

She saw Bella incline her head slightly before tilting it to the side a bit, looking at Rosalie, rather than the board where Mr. Banner was writing notes. If it had been anyone else, Rosalie would have felt extremely uncomfortable or even hostile. But this girl she barely knew, she didn’t feel any of it. And she couldn’t really put her thumb on what she was feeling. It wasn’t happiness or contentment. Or even interest. It was more primal than that. Something that she couldn’t put into words. So she allowed it. 

The two clearly didn’t pay too much attention to the rest of the class, Mr. Banner promising them they would start a lab around identifying the phases of mitosis under a microscope the next day before dismissing them to their next period. As Rosalie was packing up her things, she heard Bella ask, “What class do you have next?” 

“Art.” She heard herself answer, rather involuntarily. But it seemed Bella had a way with making her comply with things she didn’t normally have the patience for. 

“Ah. PE for me. Well, it was nice to see you again Rosalie.” She said with a wink. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Bella waved teasingly before walking off to her next class, leaving Rosalie rather dumbfounded. The two had been going all day, dancing around the fact that they had met before. But it seemed like Bella  _ did _ remember her. And Rosalie didn’t know if that was a good or a bad thing. `

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we really get into the story. I am very much excited for Rosalie (and by extension, you guys) to get to know a bit more about Bella in this fic. I've long not really cared for canon Bella in a number of ways so... here we are. She's dubbed OOC in this for a reason lmao. 
> 
> There's clearly something off about her, but what exactly... no one knows. Cept me. I do.


	4. Chapter 4

I.

Rosalie’s art class was relatively uneventful. They were currently working on a drawing project which Rosalie was procrastinating on. She wasn’t the artist Alice was, but as a vampire that had been around for a century, she had time to hone her art talent. And it was very obvious her teacher thought she was one of the best in all of her classes.

However, when the bell rang and she headed to her history class, she was met with that familiar smoky campfire smell again. She entered the room to see Bella already sitting at the same double desk at the back of the room where she normally sat. She almost rolled her eyes, heading to take her seat.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Bella said, amusement in her voice, leaning back in her chair, balancing on the back two legs and not even seeming to be afraid of falling backward. Rosalie nodded, taking her seat, setting her bag on the floor, pulling out her notebook that she doodled in during class. History, of all her classes, was largely pointless. Especially this AP US History class. It wasn’t like she had lived through a lot of it, after all, she thought sarcastically.

“Good to see you again Bella,” Rosalie said politely. She forced her body to remain a little tense, knowing that even though Bella was human, the girl posed a definite threat to her family. What with her uncanny ability to thwart all of her sibling’s gifts. “How was your PE class?” She asked.

Bella just shrugged. “Uneventful. Your brother Emmett is in the class with me.” She mentioned casually. “He seems very… athletically talented.” She added. Rosalie chuckled.

“Emmett is a large child, he enjoys playing games. Of any sort really. Sports give him a chance to show off his muscles.” She replied, opening her notebook to the page she was currently working on. Various flowers, vines, and other plants lined the margins, with the start of a large predatory cat in the middle. She hadn’t quite decided on which one it was. Bella set all four legs of her chair on the floor, looking at Rosalie’s drawing.

“You’re very talented at that.” She said. Rosalie was certain that she might have blushed at the compliment if she was still able to. “Do you not pay much attention in  _all_  your classes?” Bella teased.

“School is… not exactly the most exciting thing I could be doing right now.” She admitted. Not exactly a lie, nor was it the full truth. Bella seemed to nod in understanding.

“I know exactly what you mean.” She said cryptically. But before Rosalie had a chance to question it further, their teacher drew their attention to the slides she was projecting on the wall. It was still early in the school year and they were just now getting into the American Revolution. Not something Rosalie had lived through personally, but she had heard enough of Carlisle’s stories.

Not a couple minutes into the lecture, a piece of paper was slid over to her again, a familiar scrawl on the paper that she had seen only earlier that day.

_Favorite hobby?_

The paper read and Rosalie raised an eyebrow, glancing at Bella. The brunette just smirked, tilting her head to the side curiously. Rosalie, who normally would have ripped the paper into pieces, instead scribbled a response.

_Fixing up cars._

She wrote, deciding to be truthful about it. She didn’t see the harm. Bella glanced over, reading her answer then grabbing the corner of the paper with her finger, sliding back over to her. Rosalie noticed the girl writing something else on it before sliding back to the blonde she shared her table with.

_Can’t say I would have guessed that._

Rosalie almost snorted. She knew most people would not believe she loved working on cars. Her mechanical skill was unparalleled in the family. Edward was good, but she was better and she took great pleasure in lording it over him on occasion. Especially when he would pull his musical talents over hers. Most people, she knew from whispers and gossip, thought her pastimes included exclusively shopping and painting her nails. And while she had to admit she did enjoy shopping, though probably not as much as her sister, Alice, it was not the only thing that interested her.

_You wouldn’t be the first._

She wrote back on the paper. Bella read the response, shooting Rosalie an apologetic look. Normally, Rosalie hated that look on anyone, even a family member, perhaps especially on a family member, but on Bella, she found that while didn’t necessarily appreciate it, it was tolerable. Rosalie added something else to the slip of paper.

_What about you?_

She questioned. Bella seemed to take Rosalie’s question under deep consideration as she tapped her pencil on the table for a moment before answering.

_A little of this and a little of that._

She wrote. Rosalie rolled her eyes. Given the little she actually knew about Bella, she should have known that the girl would give her an evasive answer.

_Helpful._

Rosalie scribbled. She heard Bella laugh under her breath.

_What can I say? I’m a mysterious person_

She wrote back. Rosalie raised an eyebrow in response to her statement to which Bella seemed to just waggle her eyebrows like she was teasing Rosalie. The blonde felt a little out of her element around Bella if she was honest with herself. Most humans kept their distance from her and those that didn’t, she scared off intentionally. After all, the only thing she wanted was to be left alone.

However, Bella seemed to have the opposite effect on her, even though she was quite literally willing her body and mind to be on the alert around her. Her instincts, however, they had quite a different opinion from her head in regards to Bella. Her mind told her to stay away from Bella. That the girl was one of the biggest threats the family had come across in a long time. Whereas her instincts were pushing her to interact with Bella more. Get to know her. And that frustrated her to no end. But she couldn’t help it. Bella was just too damn captivating.

II.

Their last class of the day moved slowly. The two shared notes throughout the entire lecture, Rosalie’s drawing left completely untouched. Instead, Rosalie now knew that Bella’s favorite color was red, hated the rain and snow, and her favorite book was Wuthering Heights. Whereas Bella knew that Rosalie had a knack for mechanics and was a rather talented musician.

The bell rang signaling the end of class before the two knew it. “I suppose this is the end of the road. It was nice to see you again Rosalie.” She said with a smirk. Rosalie nodded, looking down to put her notebook back in her bag. When she looked back up to bid Bella a proper goodbye, she was surprised to see the brunette nowhere in sight. She frowned. She should have noticed Bella leave. She did, however, pick up the lightest scent of sulfur intermingled with Bella’s normal scent that she had never smelt before.

She frowned, picking up her bag and walking out of the room. Emmett was waiting for her outside her classroom. “Hey, Rosie. Bella was in the class with you eh?” He asked. She nodded as the two walked out to the parking lot together.

“Yeah…” She trailed off, pausing. “Did you see her leave the room?” She asked him curiously. Emmett shook his head.

“Nope, she was gone by the time I got there. Only knew she had the class with you because that nasty smell is all over you.” He said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Is it?” She asked. All she smelt was Bella’s normal campfire scent, the brief smell of sulfur already having dissipated.

“You really don’t smell it, do you?” He asked seriously. She just shook her head.

“No.” She replied, thinking back to earlier that day during lunch to when Emmett was describing his interactions with her. “She also seemed sociable enough to me.” She said without thinking about it further.

“No way. You, of all people, decided to talk to a human?” He asked incredulously. Rosalie bristled defensively.

“We need to know if she’s a threat to the family, so we can take care of the problem if we need to.” She deflected, trying to cover up her slip. Emmett looked at her skeptically but decided not to press his sister, for which Rosalie was grateful.

The two made it out to the parking lot where Rosalie noticed that Bella’s junker of a truck was still sitting in the same spot it was that morning. She frowned at it.

“Hey, I know you think it’s a piece of junk, but you don’t need to look at it like it personally attacked you.” Emmett joked, noting Rosalie’s critical gaze. The blonde averted her eyes from the truck, focusing back on her bear of a brother.

“That thing is a screaming metal death trap. It’s a wonder she can even start the damn thing.” She replied, wrinkling her nose.

“Speaking of screaming death traps, where’s good ol’ Eddie?” Emmett asked. Rosalie was about to answer, but Alice bounced over to the two, Jasper close on her heels.

“He ran off to Denali for a few days. He’ll be back.” She informed them.

“Did the new girl really freak him out that much?” Emmett asked.

“You have to admit, she is a little… strange.” Jasper said calmly. “And Edward has never come across anyone who he couldn’t read. He is bound to be a little… out of his element.” Rosalie snorted.

“That’s one way to put it.” She said under her breath, though she was aware all of her siblings could hear her. Emmett just laughed loudly, putting an arm around Rosalie’s shoulders.

“Take it easy on the poor man, Rosie,” Emmett said. “The dude probably just feels a little… vulnerable.” He said suggestively. Rosalie found herself growling a little at the implication to Emmett’s words, though she couldn’t really place why. She attributed it to the very idea of a member of her family getting… involved with a human.

“Edward is far too proper to do anything of the sort, and you know it.” She retorted, ducking out from under his arm. He just pouted.

“Aw, you’re no fun, Rosie.”

III.

Later that evening, Rosalie was in the garage working on the Jeep, when she heard the door open from the house. She pulled herself out from under the car, seeing Alice in her line of sight. “Can I help you?” She asked. Alice hopped up on one of the workbenches, sitting on a clear space.

“Couldn’t help but notice that you and Bella seemed to hit it off.” She started. Rosalie groaned, rolling back under the car.

“Like I told Emmett, I was just scouting her out a little.” She said, twisting a bolt on the exhaust.

“A little, as in sharing what your hobbies are with her?” Alice pressed. Rosalie sighed. She loved her sister, but unlike Emmett, sometimes Alice did not know when to leave something alone.

“It was the only way I could think of to get her to share about herself.” She lied. In reality, it had been easy for her to do it. And she hadn’t thought twice about sharing a little bit. Still, very surface level things, but more than any other human knew about her.

“Well, what did you find out then?” Alice asked curiously. Rosalie set the bolt into the dish by her side, starting on another one.

“Her favorite color is red, she hates rain and snow, and her favorite book is Wuthering Heights,” Rosalie mumbled.

“Interesting,” Alice said with a knowing look before hopping off the bench. “Well, I’ll leave you to this… beast.” She said, eyeing the half-finished Jeep before leaving Rosalie in peace. The blonde sighed. It was going to be a long school year.

IV.

Rosalie was out hunting alone that evening. She had invited Emmett, but he was too wrapped up in some video game, so she ended up going alone. The blonde scented a bear a few miles off and made her way in that direction. Before long, she came within easy striking distance of the predator. She crept her way toward it, lunging lightning quick towards it. She caught the bear off guard, snapping its neck before it had a chance to really fight back. She wasn’t in the mood to play with her food.

She sank her teeth into the animal, the blood gushing out of it as she drank from the bear. When she had drained it dry, she dropped the carcass, leaving it in the dirt. It was too far out in the wilderness to be found by any hiking human. Suddenly, she heard a snap of a branch nearby, her body immediately tensing, sniffing the air to find a scent.

She walked slowly and silently, her body ready for a fight just in case, towards the sound. She peered around a large tree and found the source of the sound. In the clearing, there was a large black goat. She frowned. Wild goats weren’t native to the Olympic Peninsula. Nor North America in general. At least, not this kind. Mountain goats sure, but what was one doing in the middle of a forest?

She emerged from behind the tree, attempting to approach it, but the animal backed away from her, its head down, horns pointed in her direction. Rosalie put her hands up in surrender, not intent on harming the animal. It was more curious than anything to her. She took another step forward, the animal taking another step back away from her. So she stopped, crouching down to try to get a better look at it.

Her golden eyes examined the animal. It had a very dark black coat and large, brown horns. She held out a hand. She doubted it would approach her. Animals tended to stay away from vampires. It was a miracle that this one hadn’t bolted already. The goat raised its head, sniffing in her direction. Rosalie finally got a better look at the animal and there was a sharp intake of breath as she saw the goat’s eyes were pitch black. She involuntarily stumbled backwards and at the sudden and unexpected movement, the goat bolted away. Rosalie remained on the ground as she listened to the animal run from the clearing, deeper into the forest.

She shook her head. There was no way she just witnessed what she thought she did. Was there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise there's a reason Rosalie is acting so weird around Bella and it will make way more sense in context. Which will come later. 
> 
> Anyway, I've read so much Rosalie/Bella fanfic that sometimes I can't remember the difference between something I read in a fic and something that is canon lmao. So that's a fun struggle.


	5. Chapter 5

I.

Rosalie got out of her car with the rest of her siblings. Edward had still not returned so she had driven Alice and Jasper to school as well. And would be for the foreseeable future. As Rosalie expected, Bella was already at school, though this time, she was sitting on the hood on her car, a book in her lap, earbuds in her ears. “She’s still a little… unnerving.” Jasper said, noting where Rosalie’s attention had been drawn almost immediately. Rosalie glanced at Jasper. 

“I suppose she is.” She relented. Rosalie, while she found herself enjoying Bella’s company, strange as it was, she did have to admit there were a lot of unnerving things about Bella. The fact that the girl didn’t seem to shy away from vampires, even unconsciously. The orange eyes. The immunity to most of their powers. Alice seemed to be able to see her occasionally, but it wasn’t reliable. And sometimes Alice couldn’t see her at all.

“She’s pretty cool though, despite the smell.” Emmett mentioned. “She’s got some mad athletic skills. Almost could keep up with me going at a slightly above average human pace.” 

“Is that so?” Rosalie asked. He just nodded. 

“Yeah, she’s in my PE class 5th period. Yesterday we were playing basketball in teams of 3 and let’s just say, the other humans on both our teams were left not doing too much.” He grinned. Like she had heard them talking about her, though that was impossible because she was too far away, Bella looked up and saw the Cullens around the car. She smiled, waving at all of them. Emmett waved enthusiastically, while Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice just nodded in acknowledgment of her greeting. Bella smirked, before going back to her book until their first bell rang and they all went off to their first class. 

Rosalie’s first period happened to be her AP Calculus class. Yet another class that bored her beyond belief. It wasn’t like she had a couple of electrical engineering and mechanical degrees after all. Today was still covering basic derivatives. Rosalie had laughed to herself when their teacher taught them to solve the relatively simple problems the difficult way around, only to teach them the power chain rule a week later. Everyone in the class had either groaned or swore. 

Rosalie pulled out her notebook, going back to her doodle, working on drawing the cat’s face and making the features of the face stronger. “Ms. Hale, can you tell me the solution to the problem?” She heard. Rosalie looked up to see her teacher whose name escaped her, giving her a stern look. All the other students in the room were staring her way. She glanced at the board where she had written a new problem. 

“5 X to the 4th, plus 2x.” Rosalie replied quickly. The teacher narrowed her eyes, having expected to trip Rosalie up, noticing that she was clearly not paying attention. But she just nodded stiffly and went back to talking about derivatives and didn’t bother Rosalie for the rest of the class.

II.

Rosalie’s morning went relatively smoothly after her math class and she found herself walking to lunch with Emmett before she knew it. As usual, the Hales and Cullens grabbed trays of food that would go untouched and they took a seat at their shared table away from most of the student body. 

Rosalie noticed that Bella was still sitting with Jessica, Lauren, Angela, Mike, Eric and that group. Though, much like the previous day, she seemed rather disinterested in the conversation. From what Rosalie could gather, they were planning on taking a beach trip to La Push that weekend. Rosalie instinctually wrinkled her nose at the mention of La Push and those mutts. 

All they ever wanted to do was fight with their vampire neighbors, even though they had never done anything to provoke them. Though that didn’t stop the thought from running through Rosalie’s mind. She’d love for their Alpha’s face to meet her fist. And she knew that Jasper and Emmett agreed with her, but Carlisle made that damn treaty with them. And regardless of any deep set resentment that Rosalie held towards the Cullen patriarch, she respected his word. 

“Want to come Bella?” She heard Mike ask. Bella looked up at the blonde boy, shrugging. 

“Sure.” She said, taking a bite of her sandwich. Newton fist pumped in the air victoriously. Rosalie felt a growl grow in her throat. She didn’t like the idea of Bella, a delicate human, being anywhere around those temperamental mutts. Jasper gave Rosalie a look, pushing some waves of calm at her. She felt her body relax and she nodded gratefully at her brother. She didn’t usually like Jasper manipulating her emotions, but even she had to admit sometimes it was necessary. She didn’t want to cause a scene in the middle of the cafeteria. 

“You okay Rosalie?” Jasper asked. Rosalie nodded. 

“Peachy.” She snapped. Jasper held his hands up in surrender, going back to giving Alice his undivided attention. Rosalie glanced over at Bella again who had Mike, Tyler and Eric’s attention. She huffed, grabbing her untouched tray and standing up. “I’m going to go to class early. I will see you guys later.” She said, leaving without giving any of them a chance to respond.

Rosalie made her way to the biology room. She was a good five minutes early, but Mr. Banner was in the room, preparing their lab for that day. They would be tasked with identifying the different phases of mitosis in onion roots. Something that Rosalie had done on multiple occasions and didn’t anticipate any difficulty, even if Bella was dumb as a stone, which she suspected wasn’t the case.  

She knocked on the doorframe, Mr. Banner looking away from the board. “Ah, Ms. Hale. Early to class today, are we?” He asked. Rosalie fought to roll her eyes, nodding. 

“Yes, sir.” She said, taking that as an invitation to enter the room and make her way to her seat. 

“Will your brother be back today?” Mr. Banner asked her, turning back to write instructions on the whiteboard. 

“No. Unfortunately, he is very ill. It will likely be a few days before he returns.” She said. Not exactly a lie. It would be a while before Edward returned, but not because of illness. Instead, because he had run off to Denali for whatever reason he had. Rosalie didn’t know. He didn’t care to elaborate before he ran off like some tortured soul. 

“Okay. I will send some makeup work home with you if that’s not too much trouble.” He said. Rosalie nodded. 

“Of course. He was sorry that he missed this. He was looking forward to it.” She lied. Mr. Banner chuckled. 

“No need to cover for your family member, Ms. Hale. Just make sure he gets the work and turns it in to me when he returns.” He said. “And Ms. Swan will be your lab partner until he returns. If he is agreeable, I would like to assign her to work with you two for the rest of the year as we now have an odd number of students in the class. And I don’t want her to have to work alone on partner work.” He said. 

Rosalie wasn’t sure if Edward was going to be agreeable to that at all. She would have to discuss his reasons for running off the previous day. If it was some massive problem, she may insist that he just transfer out of the class. “Of course, sir.” She said respectfully. A familiar scent graced her nostrils as Bella walked through the door. 

“Speaking of, good afternoon Ms. Swan.” Mr. Banner greeted the student. 

“Hello.” She said, gazing at Rosalie. Her orange eyes brighter than Rosalie had ever seen them. 

“You’ll be working with Ms. Hale until her brother returns from his illness.” He said, not turning around from the whiteboard. Bella nodded automatically, making her way over to their shared table. 

“Hi, Rosalie,” Bella said casually, setting her bag on the floor. “Planning on participating today?” She teased. Rosalie rolled her eyes. 

“It is lab day.” She said sarcastically. 

“Good, I was afraid you’d make me do all the work.” Bella said dramatically. 

“Of course not.” Rosalie replied. Bella grinned. 

“Good.” 

III. 

Students started to trickle in as lunch ended and class began. Each table was distributed a microscope and a case of onion root supplies. Rosalie got up from the table to grab their worksheets, passing one to Bella. Their hands touched and Rosalie felt a tingle run down her spine. If Bella felt anything similar, she didn’t give anything away. So Rosalie ignored it. It was probably just the warmth of Bella’s skin against her naturally cold temperatures. Though Rosalie did notice that Bella was running a little warmer than the average human. Nothing like the mutts, but enough to where it was noticeable. But Bella didn’t give off any symptoms of being ill. Strange.

“Shall I start?” Bella asked. Rosalie shrugged. 

“If you’d like.” She said, pushing the microscope towards Bella. The brunette smirked, grabbing one of the slides, slotting into the appropriate spot under the lens.

“Anaphase.” She said. Rosalie nodded. 

“Mind if I…” She trailed off, nodding in the direction of the microscope. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Bella, but she would like to verify her lab partner’s work before just taking her word for it. Bella, luckily, was gracious about it. She nodded once, sliding the microscope over to Rosalie. The blonde looked into the scope, seeing that, indeed, it was anaphase. She took her eye away from the lens, nodding. 

“Nice.” She said. Bella chuckled. 

“Like I said.” She teased. Rosalie rolled her eyes, grabbing the next slide out of the box. She removed the previous one, setting it aside and slotting in the new one before looking through the scope. 

“Prophase.” She said with confidence. Bella nodded, writing it down on the sheet. 

“Now see I, unlike you, trust that you know what you’re doing.” Bella joked. Rosalie chuckled to herself. 

“Forgive me for wanting to verify your work. You are more than welcome to do the same.” She replied. Bella waved her off. 

“I know you’re smart. Don’t need to.” She insisted. Rosalie raised an eyebrow, but nodded. 

“Suit yourself.” She said, sliding the scope back to Bella to identify the next one. 

The pair finished quickly, Bella correctly identifying three of the five. And before they knew it, they still had half the period left and no one else was nowhere close to being finished. Mr. Banner walked over to the pair. 

“You could have let Ms. Swan do some of the work, Ms. Hale.” He said disapprovingly. Rosalie glared at the teacher. 

“Bella actually identified three of the five.” She corrected. Bella, for her part, remained slouched on her stool, her signature smirk on her face, looking at Mr. Banner as if challenging her authority. He gave her a once over, clearly a little intimidated by the girl. 

“You’ve done this lab before?” He asked weakly. She shrugged. 

“Not with onion root.” She said cheekily. He just nodded stiffly before telling the girls that they had the rest of the period to themselves before walking over to the next pair. Bella turned her attention to Rosalie looked at the human curiously. “So, why did a family as beautiful and successful as yours move to a little town called Forks in the middle of nowhere?” She asked. Rosalie tensed a little, reciting the carefully constructed story from memory. 

“Esme likes small towns.” She said. “Carlisle can really work anywhere there are people as a doctor and surgeon. And we’re all kind of along for the ride.” She said. It was a simple story, but sometimes simple was best. It didn’t require one to remember a million lies. And the best lies had a glimmer of truth to them. Bella gazed at Rosalie for a moment in silence, like she was appraising the story that Rosalie had just given her. It actually made Rosalie fidget a little under the weight of the look. “You?” She added, desperate to get the subject off of her. Bella just shrugged. 

“I’m a wanderer. Moved around a lot in my life. Chief Swan is… a distant relative.” She said, not exactly answering Rosalie’s question, but it had served its purpose of getting the spotlight off of Rosalie. So the blonde nodded. 

“A lot of people are under the impression he’s your father.” She said. Bella snorted. 

“He wishes.” She mumbled. “No, my parents are both…” She paused like she was considering her words, “not here anymore.” She said. Rosalie raised an eyebrow. 

“I’m sorry.” She said but Bella waved her off. 

“It is what it is. It’s been so long that I don’t really remember much of them anymore.” She said. 

“So you were young when they passed?” Rosalie asked. 

“Something like that,” Bella said cryptically. “Is your brother feeling any better?” She asked, changing the subject rather abruptly and not escaping Rosalie’s notice. The vampire nodded. 

“I believe so. Carlisle looked him over at home and deemed him able to stay home for a few days. Probably a stomach bug.” Rosalie said. Bella gave Rosalie a knowing look, but accepted the answer. 

“What about you? Any siblings?” She asked. 

“A few. But we’re not particularly close.” 

“Ah, I couldn’t imagine not being close with my siblings.” Rosalie said honestly. Despite the fact they irritated the shit out of her on occasion, she did love them in her own way. 

“If you knew them, you’d understand why,” Bella said. “But it’s a good thing you have your family. Found a family from what I understand.” She said. “Jasper is your only blood relative?” She asked. 

Rosalie nodded in confirmation. “Yes, Esme took us in when we were young.” She replied. “And then Jasper met his… girlfriend Alice and she was in a less than ideal circumstance as well and Esme was kind enough to provide for her as well.” 

“That’s kind of her,” Bella said. The brunette seemed like she wanted to say something else, but the bell rang signifying the end of the period. Rosalie and Bella both packed up their things, getting up from their table. “I’ll see you in History I suppose,” Bella said, before heading off to PE and Rosalie off to Art. 

IV.

Art, again went by quickly. Rosalie continued to work on her doodle which she was considering submitting for her drawing project for the class. The cat in the middle of the page had evolved into a black panther, the large cat sitting in the middle of the piece of paper, its tail wrapped around a tree that Rosalie had drawn into the foliage of the surrounding art. And before she knew it, it was time for History. 

The vampire made her way to her history class, again catching Bella’s scent as the brunette had made it to the class before her again. She gave Bella a rare, small smile before sitting next to her. “What riveting historical event do you think we’ll get to learn about today?” Bella drawled. 

“Something about the American Revolution.” She replied. “It’s in the syllabus.” Bella raised an eyebrow. 

“The great Rosalie Hale has actually read the class syllabus?” She asked. Rosalie, if she could have, probably would have blushed. 

“Yes.” She retorted. Bella was about to reply but suddenly let out a low hiss. Rosalie gave Bella a concerned look. “You okay?” She asked curiously. Bella gritted her teeth, nodding. 

“I’m fine.” She managed to get out. “I just… restroom.” She said, getting up from their table and quickly making her way to the front of the room, quietly asking the teacher to use the restroom. She was dismissed and beelined for the door. 

Rosalie did a double take when she thought she saw a low red glow emanating from under Bella’s shirt. She could just make out some sort of symbol or scar on Bella’s back, through her light gray shirt that was the source of the glow. Rosalie shook her head, frowning. There was something else up with Bella. And Rosalie wanted to find out what. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad everyone has been enjoying this so far. It's been pretty hype to write.


	6. Chapter 6

I.

Rosalie noticed a number of strange things about Bella over the next week. The red glow and Bella running off abruptly happened a few more times. Rosalie hadn’t brought it up between the two yet, however, the desire to find out what exactly was going on with Bella kept gnawing at her. Bella, on the other hand, went about each day as any other. She came to school, sat on the hood of her car reading a book until school actually started, went about her classes rather uninterested, shot Rosalie flirtatious glances during lunch, exchanged notes with the blonde vampire in their shared classes and went home again. 

Rosalie could tell that Bella was the type of person that could say things in such a way where it sounded like she was sharing information, but on closer inspection, she really didn’t know Bella much better than she had when they first met. Sure, she knew a few little details like she didn’t really get along with her siblings, her favorite color, favorite book, but nothing that really expressed real trust with Rosalie. 

For example, one afternoon in History when they were assigned to work with their table partner on an assignment, Rosalie had asked further questions about Bella’s family. “You said you don’t really get along with your siblings. Why?” She asked. Bella snorted. 

“Like I said, if you knew them, you’d understand. But they’re just generally difficult individuals to be around for long periods of time. And they travel a lot, so we’re never really all in the same place at once.” She said. “Not that being in one place would probably be a good idea generally. It would likely be a lot more fighting than anything.” Bella said with a sigh. 

“Really?” Rosalie asked. Bella nodded. 

“Yeah, we all have… different and conflicting personalities, broadly. Sometimes something one of my siblings does or says gets on my nerves. I’m only human after all.” Bella said with a small laugh like she was sharing a private joke with herself. “And when we’re not traveling… well… they enjoy warmer climates than I do. I’m one of the few of us that can even stand the cold.” She continued casually, writing an answer down on her paper. 

“And you enjoy it?” Rosalie questioned further. Bella just shrugged. 

“I tolerate them. I wouldn’t necessarily say they’re my favorite. But I dislike the extreme heat even less.” 

“Fair enough,” Rosalie replied. 

And that was the extent of their conversation about Bella’s family. Rosalie, for her part, had managed to steer their conversations away from her own family and backstory. In fact, she had managed to escape most of her conversations with Bella, saying very little about herself. To which she was somewhat surprised. Humans often gossiped a lot about the family. And she had thought that given the opening, Bella would bombard her with questions that she couldn’t answer. But Bella, after the first couple of days, had not really asked her much. Which she was thankful for. 

She was still distrustful of Bella. It was dangerous what she was doing. She knew that. She was risking exposure to a human. And it was not like she’d ever even consider telling her the truth. And what was the harm in talking to the human that she sat next to in two of her classes? She kept trying to tell herself it was to learn more about her. To gauge the threat level Bella posed. But as time went on, even she was beginning to buy that excuse less and less. 

Rosalie noticed other things about Bella too. Even when it was raining or very cold by human standards, Bella never wore a jacket. Or even a long sleeve shirt. She was always seen in some sort of short sleeve shirt. But also, she was never seen in a tank top. Or even shirtless as Rosalie had picked up from the gossip of other girls in Bella’s gym class. The brunette human always went into one of the bathroom stalls to change into her PE clothes. That wasn’t actually an uncommon thing for human girls, but Rosalie found it somewhat strange for a human that seemed to not really be ashamed of her body. Or at least, Rosalie assumed that. Bella was relatively uncaring about anyone’s opinion of her.

Rosalie also noticed that she seemed to be one of the few people that actually talked to Bella. Sure, she sat with her peers at lunch, but after the novelty of being the new girl had worn off, most of them never really made an effort to engage in conversation. And Bella never sought it out. Every so often Mike Newton would try to flirt with Bella, to which Rosalie almost always let out a low growl. Much to Emmett’s eternal amusement. And sometimes Angela Webber would talk to the human. But other than that, Rosalie was seemingly Bella’s only friend. 

“Does it bother you?” Rosalie asked one afternoon in Biology. Bella looked at the blonde curiously. 

“What do you mean?” She countered. 

“I mean, you sit with Stanley, Mallory, Newton and the others yet they barely talk to you. And no one else in the school really goes out of their way to converse with you.” She clarified. Bella laughed. 

“I value my privacy,” Bella said simply, not bothering to elaborate. Rosalie raised an eyebrow but sensed that she wouldn’t be getting any more of an answer out of her. “However, I do appreciate your presence in my otherwise rather boring life.” She added abruptly. 

“I’m flattered,” Rosalie said dryly. Bella chuckled to herself. 

“You seem to be one of few genuinely interesting people at this school.” 

“What makes you say that?” Rosalie asked. 

“Call it a sixth sense.” She replied. Rosalie raised an eyebrow. 

“You believe in that kind of stuff?” Bella shrugged. 

“Who knows what’s out there? Would it really be so strange that the supernatural exists right under our nose?” 

“Yeah…” Rosalie said, trailing off to silence between the two for the rest of the class. 

And this went on for the week. The routine. Rosalie was honestly getting used to Bella’s strange behavior. And her sibling's constant reminders that Bella could be dangerous. But it really didn’t hit home until Edward returned.

II.

“You’re back,” Rosalie said, looking up from her book as Edward stood in the doorway of her room. He dared not enter until she gave him permission, knowing Rosalie took her space and privacy very seriously. He just nodded. 

“May I?” He asked. She tilted her head, giving him wordless permission to enter her sanctuary. He stepped into her room, shutting the door behind him, though it would do nothing for any of their family members who decided to eavesdrop as they could easily hear through the walls. 

“Alice told me that you’re still seeing Bella.” He started, a grim look on his face. Rosalie tensed. Her… relationship with Bella was still a touchy subject for her. Especially around Edward. Her know-it-all brother would most certainly take issue with it. And Rosalie was not in the mood.

“Yes.” She said cautiously, not exactly sure what Edward was getting at. 

“You need to stop.” He replied. 

“And why is that?” Rosalie asked in an uncharacteristically calm tone of voice. Edward just puffed out his chest. 

“She’s dangerous.” He replied. 

“She’s a human, Edward.” Rosalie insisted. 

“A human that can thwart all our gifts. You can’t honestly tell me that doesn’t set you on edge?” He insisted. Rosalie was careful to keep her thoughts to herself around her brother, but in her heart where he couldn’t see, somehow, it didn’t worry her. Though she knew it probably should. 

“Yes, but once again, she’s a human. We can’t just go and off every human that is gifted. I thought you were all for the protection of sacred human life?” She countered, not in the mood for his habit of always thinking he was right. 

“I…” He faltered. “I won’t put a human’s life above the survival of our family.” He insisted. Rosalie frowned. This was not the line she had heard in the last number of decades she had lived with him. 

“Did something happen in Denali?” She asked, changing course, genuinely curious. “And why did you run off in the first place?” 

“I had time to think. Away from all of this.” He said, gesturing in midair. “And I needed to get away because, like I said before, there’s something off about Bella. Something dangerous. Primal.” He said seriously. Rosalie looked at her brother like he had grown a second head. 

“Are we talking about the same human?” She asked incredulously. Bella might be a private and, at times, closed off individual, but she didn’t seem nearly as dangerous as Edward made her out to be. 

“You mean to tell me you don’t feel it? The unease. The warning light going off in your head that something is very wrong?” He asked. Rosalie shook her head, wondering if Edward had found the equivalent of vampire drugs while he was away. 

“I have no clue what the hell you’re talking about Edward. She’s a little strange sure, but that’s not an excuse for you to decide that you can be judge, jury, and executioner. Now if you’re finished, I’m sure you have a lot of school work to catch up on from your absence. And I’d suggest transferring out of our biology class if it’s this much of a problem. Banner plans on assigning Bella to us for lab work.” She informed him. He scowled at her before storming out of her room, a mumbled thanks as he left. She signed, shaking her head. 

‘What was wrong with her brother?’ She thought to herself as she went back to her magazine. She chuckled as she heard him growl at her thoughts.

III. 

Edward returned to school the next day with the rest of the Cullens, leaving Rosalie to just drive Emmett in her car, while Edward resumed driving Alice and Jasper. Rosalie pulled into the parking lot, noting that Bella’s truck was in the parking lot, but strangely, she wasn’t sitting on the hood with her book and earbuds. Rosalie couldn’t even scent the campfire smell anywhere. She frowned to herself as she got out of the car. 

Edward pulled in right next to her, getting out of his car quickly and storming off to the office. Rosalie rolled her eyes at his dramatics but was also internally grateful that Bella was nowhere to be found. Edward seemed to have a very adverse reaction to the girl herself and she shuddered to imagine what he might have done after the ranting and raving he had done in her room the night before. 

Suddenly, Rosalie caught Bella’s scent again. She turned towards the brunette’s truck, seeing that she was, once again, sitting on the hood with a book in her lap, looking at it rather intensely. The blonde frowned. She had only looked away from Bella’s truck for a moment to observe Edward. Bella had appeared from basically nowhere. _ Strange _ , Rosalie thought. 

Her copperhead brother emerged from the office, his golden eyes immediately zeroing in on Bella Swan. Rosalie snarled, stepping in front of him, cutting off his line of sight. He narrowed his eyes at her but turned his focus to her. “I transferred out of our biology class.” He said, waving a piece of paper which Rosalie identified as a new class schedule. “I would tell you to do the same, but you won’t listen to me, will you?” He asked. Rosalie glared at him. 

“I, unlike you, don’t have a problem with the human.” She hissed. “And I have more than one class with her, it’s not like I can just transfer out of all of them, just to avoid her.” She defended. 

“Just… be careful.” He warned. Rosalie rolled her eyes, pushing past her brother, walking into the school building alone. She felt a presence at her side. She looked over to see Alice bouncing next to her. 

“What?” Rosalie grouched. Alice just gave Rosalie a knowing look. 

“He’s just trying to look out for you. And us.” She tried. Rosalie snorted. 

“He’s out of his mind is what he is.” She responded. “Bella’s just a human. A strange one. But a human.” She said, continuing to walk in the direction of her first class. 

“Are you certain?” Alice asked. “The wolves appear human.” She said. Rosalie growled at the mention of the mutts. 

“Nothing about Bella indicates a supernatural side of her. She’s not a shifter. Her body temperature isn’t high enough for it. And she’s not a vampire. Her heart beats. She has blood in her body.” Rosalie replied. Alice pursed her lips. 

“Just… don’t you think it’s strange that you’re the only one of us that can really stand to be around her?” Alice asked. Rosalie glanced Alice’s way, pausing. 

“No.” She snapped. Alice tilted her head forward slightly in surrender. 

“I’m just trying to look out for you,” Alice said. Rosalie sighed. 

“And I appreciate that. But I know what I’m doing.” She replied as the first bell rang.

IV.

Rosalie sat with her siblings at lunch, moving her food absentmindedly around on the tray when she felt a set of orange eyes on her. She looked up, meeting Bella’s gaze. The brunette tilted her head, gesturing for the vampire to meet her outside. Rosalie nodded slightly, getting up from the table. 

“You’re not.” Edward accused. Rosalie snarled at him. 

“You’re not my keeper Edward.” She snapped, picking up her tray, throwing her food away and walking out of the cafeteria, down the hallway and out the doors to wait. 

Bella walked through the doors a few minutes later. “Hey.” She greeted. Rosalie crossed her arms, looking down at the slightly shorter girl. 

“Did you need something?” Rosalie asked. Bella smirked. 

“I admit, I’m kind of surprised that you didn’t just tell me to fuck off for trying to get you to do something.” She said. Rosalie opened her mouth, then shut it again. She didn’t really have an answer for that. If it were anyone else, she would have told them to shove it. Bella, however, she was different. “Don’t worry, I won’t make you answer. I just wanted to ask you something.” She said. “Then you’re free to go back to your family.” 

Rosalie nodded cautiously, wary of what Bella could possibly ask her. “What is it?” 

“Is Edward bothering you?” She asked seriously. Rosalie frowned. 

“What do you mean?” She asked. Bella shrugged. 

“I saw you two this morning. And just now. Just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Didn’t want you two fighting over me.” Bella said. Rosalie stiffened. The presumption that Bella knew anything about the inner workings of her family, even something a simple as an argument with her brother, hit a nerve. 

“What makes you think it was about you? The world doesn’t revolve around you, you know.” She retaliated. Bella seemed unphased by the blunt way Rosalie had phrased the sentence. 

“It wasn’t difficult to work out.” She replied calmly, seemingly oblivious that she was in the presence of an irritated vampire. 

“We’re fine,” Rosalie said, clenching her jaw. Bella eyed Rosalie’s body language, giving her a one over. 

“If you’re certain…” Bella trailed off, sounding rather uncertain herself. Rosalie nodded. 

“I’m certain, but thank you for your concern.” She said, her defensive, icy mask falling into place. Bella looked at a little skeptical but nodded once. 

“You’re a… friend Rosalie. I’m just looking out for you.” Bella said. Rosalie relaxed her arms and posture a little. The mention of being Bella’s friend both warming her cold heart and also causing an uncomfortable clench in her gut. “But I’ll let you get back to it. I’ll see you in biology.” She said quickly before walking off, leaving Rosalie to wonder what just happened. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't the end of the arguments between Edward and Rosalie. Not by a long shot. 
> 
> Nothing much more to add to this chapter really. Beyond that I'd really love to answer some of the questions I've gotten about some of the specifics/particulars of what's going on. But that would be spoilers.


	7. Chapter 7

I.

Rosalie pointedly ignored Bella for the rest of the day. As in she avoided Bella's gaze, spoke short and to the point single words when they needed to interact for class, and left their shared classes after lunch without a word. And she hated every minute of it. It almost physically caused her some amount of pain to ignore Bella like that, but after the brunette had pulled her out of lunch earlier in the day, she was feeling particularly vulnerable and not in the mood to interact with the individual that had caused it.

If she had examined it further, she'd have realized that it was really Edward that was causing the stress in her life and Bella was just trying to help her alleviate it. But Rosalie had never been all that good at reflection in that regard.

She could feel Bella's eyes on her most of the rest of the day and it took most of Rosalie's willpower to not return the glance. She could feel her eyes darkening all throughout the afternoon and by the end of the day, she nearly threw Emmett in her car so they could get home as quickly as possible so she could go hunt. The moment she was out of the car, she mumbled to her brother that she needed to hunt and run off into the forest behind the Cullen house.

She took down the first few deer she came across, working out her agressions on them as she was a little bit more brutal than her normal style of hunting. She generally killed the animals quickly, spared them much pain. But today, she was on edge. And before she knew it, she had drained a dozen deer. She sighed, stopping her pursuit. She was sure her eyes were back to their bright golden color. The vampire ran a hand through her hair. Bella really had an effect on her. And she really didn't like it.

Rosalie's ears pricked up as she heard an animal approach her from behind. She turned, finding a familiar looking black goat standing a few feet away from her. The eyes were still fully pitch black, but this time, the vampire was prepared for it. They still spooked her out, but she was interested in why such a creature actually approached a predator like a vampire. Not unlike a certain human she knew as well.

She knelt down, careful not to get dirt on her pants. "You again." She said quietly, internally berating herself for talking to an animal like somehow it understood her. However, to her surprise the goat bleated, lowering its head slightly before raising it again. Rosalie frowned.

"What's an animal like you doing out here? It's dangerous with all the monsters roaming around." She said, still not entirely sure why she was talking to the animal. The goat snorted, letting out a loud noise, something akin to a screech, rearing up on its hind legs and bouncing slightly before falling back to all fours. Rosalie, at this point, stood up, her eyes still on the animal.

"Just… get out of here." She said. The animal was clearly unphased by any of her words, if it understood her at all. Though, it seemed like it had to some degree. Perhaps it was a farm animal that someone had let loose in the forest and it had some experience with humans. And human speech. The goat looked up at her, rearing up again before bolting away back into the forest. Rosalie watched it disappear into the deeper treeline, making her own way back home afterward.

II.

That evening, Rosalie spent more of her time in the garage. The parts for the transmission on the Jeep had finally gotten delivered, so she wanted to fix that piece as soon as possible. With any luck, the previously totaled Jeep would be in working condition within the next couple of weeks. Then she would just have to make some cosmetic repairs, like giving it a new paint job, adding a few modifications that she knew her brother would love and it would be ready to gift to her bear like brother.

She also just wanted some time to herself. And her cars allowed her that. Her siblings rarely disturbed her in the garage. All except Alice. The seer didn't seem to honor the unspoken rule. Which Rosalie didn't exactly like, but she tolerated it. Of her siblings, Alice and Emmett were her favorites. Emmett was really like the younger brother she lost. She had two younger brothers as a human, but she had completely separated herself from her human life after being turned. Except for what she did to those that had caused it. Everything else hurt too much. It was a reminder of everything that she had lost when Carlisle had turned her. And a reminder of what she could never have.

There was a knock at the garage door. Rosalie grumbled, knowing exactly who it was at the door swung open and her hyperactive sister walked into the garage. "Can I help you, Alice?" Rosalie said over her shoulder, as she was bent over, under the open hood of the car.

"What was up with Bella today?" Alice said, cutting straight to the chase. Rosalie sighed.

"You should know," She said, knowing that they were not out of earshot of her family members in the cafeteria and that they had most certainly overheard the entire conversation. Alice frowned.

"What do you mean?" Alice said. "You know it's difficult for me to see Bella. The few times that I've been able to, it's given me a splitting headache." Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"No, I mean I know you overheard us. We weren't far enough away to avoid it." Rosalie grouched, grabbing a wrench from the toolbox next to her.

"We didn't, Rosalie," Alice said seriously. "We thought you took her out of range of our senses. Because it was like you two just… disappeared." Rosalie furrowed her brow, getting out from under the hood and turning to look at Alice.

"What? We were barely outside the cafeteria." Rosalie clarified. Alice opened her mouth, then closed it again, clearly thinking.

"That… isn't possible." She finally said. "Bella's powers aren't fully developed. She shouldn't be able to control them like that." She murmured to herself. "Carlisle should know about this," Alice said. Rosalie felt a defensive clench around her heart, but despite that, nodded her agreement. If anyone could make sense of what was going on with Bella, it would be Carlisle.

"Since you seem to have the… closest relationship with her, I'll let you tell him. If you want." Alice added, not wanting to put the full task on Rosalie if she didn't want it, but the blonde nodded. If any of her other siblings, except maybe Emmett, did it, Bella certainly wouldn't get a fair bill from any of them.

III.

"Strange," Carlisle said as Rosalie finished relaying all the information, limited as it was, that she knew about Bella to Carlisle. The blonde doctor tapped his fingers together. "And you said she is definitely human?" He asked. Rosalie nodded.

"There's no way she's anything but."

Carlisle nodded. "I don't really know what to make of it. I've never come across another like her. I wonder…" He trailed off, deep in thought. Rosalie looked at him questioningly. "Just a theory. Vampires have all sorts of strange gifts. The gift of being able to pass themselves off as a human is a possible theory, but without more evidence, I couldn't say for sure." He said, answering her unspoken question.

"Do you think she's a threat?" Rosalie asked, praying to herself that her father said no.

"Too early to tell. So far, from what you've told me, she doesn't seem to have any ill intent. So until then, just be careful. You and all your siblings." He said a little louder, knowing that every vampire in the house was listening in. Rosalie nodded.

"We'll keep an eye out." She said.

"I know you will. You've always been one of the most protective of this family, Rose. I trust you." He said kindly. Rosalie felt a bit of guilt bubble up in her stomach. But she nodded, heading back to the garage to work on the Jeep for the rest of the night.

IV.

The next morning, Rosalie and Emmett arrived at school after their other siblings. It was a cold and icy morning and a lot of the drivers on the road had no idea how to drive properly in those conditions. Hence why she got stuck behind the slowest moving car she had ever witnessed. As the two vampires got out of the car, Rosalie glanced to where Bella's truck was parked every morning.

It was in the parking lot and Bella was leaning against the side of the car, earbuds in her ears, reading her latest book. Rosalie quickly averted her eyes as Bella looked up at her. The blonde had cooled off substantially since the previous day, but Carlisle's words still were at the back of her mind.

Emmett suddenly threw an arm around her shoulders. Rosalie flinched a bit from the expected contact, but relaxed when she realized it was just Emmett. "So, hunting trip this weekend Rosie?" He asked with a grin on his face. "I know how much you love chasing bears with me." He teased. Rosalie was about to reply when her head snapped to the screeching of tires on the icy pavement.

Tyler Crowley had apparently hit a patch of black ice and his truck was on a collision course for an oblivious Bella Swan. Rosalie felt her body go into panic mode. She was about to bolt towards the brunette at superhuman speed against her brain's better judgment, but Emmett's arm around her shoulders held her back, trying to keep his sister from exposing them, though even the bear like Cullen had a look of despair on his face as the truck seemed to skid towards Bella at speeds that would, in likelihood, kill the human.

However, at the very last minute, Bella looked up from her book. Rosalie saw, instead of a look of panic or even impending doom, a teasing smile run across her lips as she put a hand on the hood of her car, pushing off the ground and into the air. The brunette's ass landed on the hood of her truck, sliding across it to the other side, gracefully planting her feet on the ground as Tyler's truck crashed into hers. The mark of impact right where Bella was standing only a split second before.

Rosalie untangled herself from Emmett's grasp, racing over to the brunette, albeit at human, if slightly fast, speeds. "Bella, are you okay?" Rosalie asked, checking Bella over for any injuries.

"Oh, are you talking to me again?" Bella asked, not with any anger, but her eyes were full of mirth. Rosalie glared at her.

"You almost get killed and that's what you're worried about?" Rosalie snapped.

"I'm fine, Rose," Bella said. Rosalie felt a slight warmth at the nickname, but didn't mention it. She was still a little pissed at Bella. Especially now that she was out of harm's way. She was about to respond, but Tyler interrupted them.

"Bella! I'm so sorry, I didn't see-" He said, but Rosalie cut him off with a snarl. Bella reached down and hesitantly touched Rosalie's forearm to try to calm her down.

"I promise I'm okay Rose," Bella said quietly, trying to soothe Rosalie's erratic nerves.

Rosalie looked down slightly at Bella, who had a reassuring smile on her face. In the moments that passed, Rosalie heard the paramedics arrive and begin to peel Tyler out of his truck to take him to the hospital. An EMT also approached Bella. "Scuse' me, you're Isabella Swan?" He asked. Bella nodded.

"That's me." She confirmed.

"You were the other individual involved in the crash?"

"If by involved you mean that he almost hit me with his truck, then yes." She said. The EMT nodded.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist we take you to the hospital." He said apologetically, looking her over. Bella frowned.

"What for? I'm completely fine." She said, bouncing up and down a couple times to prove her point.

"Policy I'm afraid. Never know if it's just the adrenaline. We'd rather have Dr. Cullen take a look at you, just in case." He said. Bella rolled her eyes, glancing at Rosalie who had been glaring at the EMT ever since he had wandered over to the pair. Bella sighed.

"Fine." She relented, turning to Rosalie. "I'll be fine, promise. Your dad won't find a scratch on me." She joked. Rosalie shook herself out of her stupor, nodding absentmindedly. Bella smiled, before going with the EMT to be loaded into the ambulance and taken to the hospital. Rosalie, on the other hand, went back over to her siblings.

"That was…" Jasper started.

"Awesome!" Emmett exclaimed. "I knew she was great at sports, but damn. Girl has some reflexes on her." He said.

"Don't you think it's all a little bit… supernatural?" Edward chimed in. "No human should have been able to do what she just did, adrenaline or not." He said and for once, Rosalie found herself agreeing with him. The feats that Bella could perform, physically, not to mention all of the other odd stuff that happened around her, it didn't add up. And Rosalie wanted to find out what was going on. She had been so certain that she was just a weird human. But this… this was really hard evidence to refute. There was something more to Bella than just being a gifted human.

V.

Rosalie skipped her first classes in favor of driving down to the hospital. Her instincts were screaming at her to make sure Bella was okay and it was making it difficult to focus on anything else. So she complied with them, pulling into the hospital parking lot and heading into the waiting room. The nurse at the front desk smiled kindly at her. "Here to see your father, Rosalie?" She asked. The blonde nodded. In a big city, she'd never be allowed to just waltz in without some supernatural help due to hospital policies. But in a small town like Forks, things were far more lax.

She followed Carlisle's scent through the back of the emergency room, opening the doors to see her father, but also Bella and Chief Swan in the room. "Ah, Rosalie," Carlisle said, noticing his daughter. Bella looked up, a frown on her face instantly turned into a smirk. "We were just finishing up here."

"She'll be fine doc. I'll make sure she takes it easy." Chief Swan said though Rosalie heard Bella snort.

"Yeah sure. I'll rest and recover." Bella said with a shrug. "So can I go back to school now?" She asked. Carlisle eyed Bella.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Ms. Swan. I can't be sure if you're entirely in peak condition as…" He said but Bella cut him off.

"I told you doc, I don't have a scratch on me. There's no need for you to look." She insisted. Chief Swan nodded.

"She's a little… sensitive of people seeing her without clothes, Dr. Cullen. I'll make sure she's okay." He said. Rosalie frowned, but stayed silent. Carlisle looked at Chief Swan a little hesitantly, but nodded.

"If you're sure Chief Swan." He said, turning back to Bella. Rosalie noticed that Carlisle had a rather tight smile on his face, not quite genuine, which was strange in Rosalie's opinion. "Then I believe you're clear to leave. I'll get your paperwork and you can be on your way." He said, swiftly leaving the room. Bella looked at Rosalie.

"Hey Rose, cutting class eh?" She joked. Rosalie frowned, glancing at Chief Swan but Bella waved it off.

"He doesn't care, do you, Charlie?" She said menacingly. Rosalie noticed Chief Swan swallow, followed by a quick nod.

"If your dad isn't bothered by it then…" He trailed off as his radio went off. "Oh, I've gotta get going. I'd drop you off at school Bella…" He said awkwardly but Rosalie interjected.

"I can take her back sir, it's not a problem." She said. Chief Swan nodded.

"Thank you, Ms. Hale. Give your father my regards." He said before heading out of the room. Rosalie looked back at Bella who was lounging in the chair.

"What was all that about?" Rosalie asked. Bella raised an eyebrow. She was about to open her mouth to respond, but Carlisle returned with a packet of papers.

"You're all set, Ms. Swan. There's a doctor's note to excuse you from your PE class for the rest of the week and please, take it easy." He said. Bella sighed, but nodded, taking the stack of papers from Carlisle.

"If you insist doc." She said, getting up.

"Rosalie, a minute?" Carlisle asked. The blonde looked between Bella and her father.

"I'll be in the waiting room," Bella said, getting the hint and leaving the two to talk.

"What is it? I should be getting her back to school." Rosalie said. Carlisle looked a little concerned.

"Are you sure that's wise?" He asked. Rosalie frowned.

"What do you mean?" She countered. Carlisle narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Edward voiced some of his concerns about her after you saw me last night. And I can't say I disagree with him." He said. Rosalie growled.

"You were fine with everything yesterday. What changed?" She asked furiously.

"I only mean that you risk exposure, Rosalie. And that there is a… disturbance around her. One I've never seen before. I just wonder if it's wise for her to play such a role in your life." He said, trying to calm the irate vampire down. "I'm only trying to look out for you, Rosie. Be sure you're safe." Rosalie snarled regardless.

"If that's all, I need to get going." She snapped, pushing her way past her father.

VI.

Rosalie and Bella sat in Rosalie's car as the blonde drove the two back to the school. The silence between them was deafening until Rosalie plucked up her courage. "What was that? Back at school." She asked. Bella frowned, looking at Rosalie.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean." She replied innocently. Rosalie felt like she wanted to yell.

"What you did today. That was more than just quick reflexes." She started. "And don't think I haven't noticed other things about you." She accused without thinking. Bella raised an eyebrow.

"And what exactly have you noticed?" She challenged. Rosalie was lost for words. She couldn't answer the question without exposing herself and her family, something that despite her argument with both Edward and Carlisle, she was loathed to do.

"I… don't change the subject." Rosalie deflected icily. Bella chuckled.

"I don't think it's me who is changing the subject. But I will let that go for now. To answer your question, let's just say, you have your secrets and I have mine. And for now, they need to stay that way." Bella said, a little threateningly. Rosalie felt a chill run down her spine at the tone of voice Bella took, but it was enough for the blonde to drop the subject.

However, it did confirm one of Rosalie's thoughts. There was more to Bella than just being a simple human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that was fun.


	8. Chapter 8

I.

Rosalie walked into their shared history class at the end of the day, Bella already sitting in her usual seat as expected. "How was PE?" Rosalie asked, as was the routine. Bella shrugged.

"Boring, as usual. More questions than perhaps are normal, but that's to be expected after this morning." She said. Rosalie nodded, pulling out a pencil and her notebook. She flipped to her drawing. Bella peered over at it. "That's really coming together." She commented. Rosalie glanced at Bella before looking back down at the drawing. She was just finishing up the shading on it and it would be ready to hand in.

"Thank you." She replied softly. Bella nodded as their teacher began the class. They had moved past the American Revolution in the last few weeks and had begun discussing the Constitution and the early formal formation of the United States. Still as boring to Rosalie as ever. She had learned the content tens of times over.

"Sometimes I wonder how you have straight As." Bella joked quietly, noting how little the blonde paid attention. Rosalie chuckled.

"Let's just say this is old news to me." She said.

"Studied ahead?" Bella questioned.

"Something like that."

"Are you going to homecoming?" Bella asked casually. Rosalie looked over at Bella, regarding her curiously.

"Perhaps. Alice, I believe want to go. And Alice will probably rope me into going." She replied, knowing that Alice always wanted the family to participate in the various school dances. It was a chance for her to plan out everyone's outfits and go a little overboard on the shopping. Rosalie didn't mind it as much as her siblings. In fact, she enjoyed it from time to time. She wasn't as obsessed with shopping as her sister was, but Rosalie knew she was a beautiful individual. And she enjoyed flaunting it. "You?" She asked. Bella rolled her eyes.

"No. I can't say dancing is my thing." She said. Rosalie raised an eyebrow.

"You seemed to enjoy it that one time." The vampire reminded the brunette. Bella chuckled.

"Let's just call that… a special circumstance." Bella replied coyly. "But you haven't been asked?" She asked. Rosalie shook her head.

"No one has the guts to approach the school's ice queen, no matter how hot she is." Rosalie drawled. Bella let out a quiet laugh. "I'm sure that you've had your fair share of suitors." She deflected, knowing that Tyler and Mike had both already asked her to the dance. And she had turned both of them down, which had made Rosalie happy. Though she had no idea why.

"Mike Newton is very… persistent." She groaned. "It's like he has no clue that Jessica has a massive crush on him and would say yes in a heartbeat." She grouched. Rosalie chuckled at the annoyed look on Bella's face.

"And Crowley?" Rosalie asked. Bella sighed.

"You heard about that eh? It is more that he feels like he owes me for almost hitting me with his truck. If he really wanted to make it up to me, he'd stop." Bella complained.

"Unfortunately, the boys don't listen the first time. Or the second. Or even the third." Rosalie replied, having had her own experiences with them, Crowley specifically.

"Bad memories?" Bella tried to joke.

"Something like that." She said sadly. The two were silent for the rest of the class period. When the bell rang signifying the end of the school day, the two got up at the same time.

"Listen Rosalie, about earlier…" Bella started but Rosalie cut her off.

"It's in the past Bella." She said curtly, not really wanting to discuss it before she really had the time to herself to try to proceed all of it. The brunette sighed, but nodded, dropping the subject for the time being. "I will see you tomorrow," Rosalie said, a little bit softer before leaving the room, almost running right into Emmett.

"Hey Rosie, where are you off to in such a hurry?" He asked. Rosalie just rolled her eyes.

"C'mon you big lug." She said, walking off towards the parking lot, not waiting for him to follow.

II.

Rosalie felt like she was tip-toeing around Bella for the next week or two. She mindfully stayed away from anything having to do with Bella's more… supernatural gifts. After the brunette's threat in the car after her hospital visit, Rosalie felt more protective of her family and her own secrets that she had before. Perhaps it was because Bella threatened her directly and that made her uneasy. Perhaps it was because it made it far clearer that Bella could possibly pose a danger to her family and that was not something she wanted to deal with. Or it could have been another, completely different reason.

But whatever it was, Rosalie also felt awkward. She had this insane curiosity about Bella that she wasn't willing to share with anyone else and actively hid it from Edward's gift. But at the same time, she didn't want to ask any more questions. Not until Bella offered answers. Because asking questions about it subjected her to sensitive questions as well.

"Here." Rosalie said quietly, passing Bella the worksheet in their history class. Their hands touched as Bella reached for the paper Rosalie was offering. The blonde vampire shivered a little from the contact, Bella's slightly warmer than average skin against her own cold skin was a stark contrast.

"Thanks," Bella said as she wrote her name on the top of the paper, along with the date. "Have a date for homecoming yet? It is next week after all." Bella asked casually, writing down the answer to the questions without seemingly even reading them. Rosalie shook her head.

"As expected, Alice insisted we all go, but I will likely go without a date." Rosalie said. She could probably get away with going as Emmett's date, but she would prefer not stoking the rumors again. Bella chuckled.

"It seems a shame that someone as good looking as you is going alone." She teased. Rosalie found herself preeing a little from the compliment, but just shrugged.

"Better than accepting one of the many offers I'm sure would come my way if I gave any indication I was seeking one." She countered. Bella nodded.

"That's fair I suppose. Have you picked an outfit?" She questioned. Rosalie shook her head.

"Alice wanted to go to Port Angeles this weekend to shop. And insisted I tag along." Rosalie said, though she didn't particularly mind. Though her mind did drift back to Alice's additional offer.

" _Bring Bella along. If you want." Alice offered. Rosalie frowned._

" _I thought you didn't like her?" Rosalie questioned._

" _I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of being around her, but you seem to like her. And if she's going to stick around, we might as well get used to it. It's been a long time since you've taken to someone, Rose." Alice said. Rosalie's stomach coiled a little defensively._

" _I... " She started. "Is it that obvious?" Rosalie asked, a little deflated. Alice nodded._

" _You never talk to anyone outside the family. Especially a human. If Bella is indeed human like you've been insisting. The last time you took to someone like that…" Alice trailed off, both vampires knowing that she was referring to Emmett._

" _I can't explain it Alice." Rosalie admitted. "It's like I can't stop myself. I want to know her."_

" _Do you think she is… you know." Alice asked, knowing Rosalie's opinion on mates. But the blonde shook her head._

" _No, it's not like that. I don't feel that kind of pull. I don't think, at least. I don't know what it feels like, but it's not like I want to claim her. Or mark her. But she doesn't repel me like the rest of the family. It's the opposite in fact." Rosalie said quietly. Alice put a hesitant hand on Rosalie's bicep._

" _You'll figure it out. And we'll all support you." Alice said._

" _You're so sure?" Rosalie asked. Alice shrugged._

" _We're family."_

"She invited you as well." Rosalie offered. Bella raised an eyebrow.

"Did she now?"

"She wants to get to know you a bit better." Rosalie replied. Bella nodded slowly.

"Well, I'm not going to homecoming, so I'm not really in the market for an outfit. But there is a bookstore I'd like to visit that I know is there." Bella said. "If it's really okay with your sister, sure."

"She's the one who offered. I'll let her know. We'll pick you up at 10 on Saturday?" Rosalie asked. Bella nodded.

"Okay." The brunette replied, pausing for a moment. She slid Rosalie's open notebook closer to her, flipping to a blank page and writing a phone number on the page. Rosalie would normally maim someone for touching her stuff. But Bella, she didn't mind. "Here's my number if things change. Or just if you wanted it." She teased. Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure it'll come in handy if I'm bored and in need of someone to annoy me." She said dryly, though Bella seemed unphased by the statement.

"Your life would be boring without me." Bella chuckled. Rosalie found herself smiling a little.

III.

The weekend came quickly. Alice was bouncing up and down as Rosalie got herself ready. "C'mon Rose. We need to get going." Rosalie rolled her eyes as she walked down the stairs towards her sister waiting near the door. The blonde grabbed her keys off the table.

"We'll have plenty of time, Alice." Rosalie said as the two went out front to Rosalie's car. The boys were all on a weekend hunting trip as Alice had dragged them all to get their outfits the previous weekend.

"Shopping is an all day event!" Alice insisted. Rosalie laughed.

"Only you take this much joy in shopping Alice." She said as the two got in Rosalie's car, taking off towards Bella's house. Rosalie had been sure to get Bella's address the previous day. She could have easily figured out where the brunette lived on scent alone, but it would be odd to just show up at Bella's house without asking her where it was.

The way Rosalie drove and speeds she drove at, they reached Bella's house in record time, arriving at ten on the dot. Rosalie got out of the car, walking up to the front door, Alice remaining in her seat. The vampire knocked on the door three times, waiting as she heard Charlie get up from the couch and open the door. "Ah, Ms. Hale." He said.

"Rosalie, please Chief Swan." She replied. "I'm here to pick Bella up." She said. Charlie nodded. He turned his head and yelled up the stairs.

"Bella, Rosalie is here!" He yelled before turning back to Rosalie. "None of this Chief Swan stuff. You're a friend of Bella's, so it's just Charlie." He said, stepping back a little. "Come in." He invited. Rosalie glanced back at Alice, who gestured for her to go inside briefly. She turned back to Charlie, thanking him and stepping inside. "So, what are you girls up to?" He asked.

"Alice and I needed to go to Port Angeles to get dresses for homecoming on Thursday." She said. "Alice wanted to get to know Bella a little bit better and I thought it would be a good opportunity to spend time with a friend," Rosalie said honestly. "We won't have her back too late." She assured Charlie. The man nodded.

"Good, good." He said. "Bella can take care of herself, but I'd rather not have to worry." He said. "She's family." Rosalie nodded in understanding. But before she could respond, she heard a door upstairs slam shut and Bella turned the corner and bounded down the stairs.

"Gossiping about me Charlie?" Bella teased. Rosalie looked Bella once over. The brunette was dressed in her normal ensemble, a black t-shirt, skinny jeans and black chucks, no jacket even though it was rather chilly outside for a normal human.

Charlie just snorted. "As if. Be safe." He said.

"Always am," Bella replied, turning to Rosalie. "Ready to go when you are." She said. Rosalie nodded, turning to the front door, opening it and heading back out to her car, Bella close on her heels.

"Alice is in the front, so you'll have to sit in the back." She said apologetically. Bella just shrugged.

"No prob." She said casually, getting in the back seat on the passenger's side as Rosalie got back in the driver's seat.

"Hello Bella." Alice said, a hint of apprehension in her voice that Rosalie detected, but unlike Edward, there was no outright hostility.

"Hey Alice. How are you?" She asked politely.

"I'm good. Are you ready for a day full of shopping?" She asked, her eyes brightening at the mention of her favorite hobby.

"I don't know, I've heard some horror stories about your type of shopping." Bella replied. Alice pouted as Rosalie chuckled a little.

"Whatever Rosalie told you isn't true!" Alice exclaimed. Rosalie was about to protest, but Bella beat her to it.

"Rosalie didn't say anything. It was Emmett." She said. Rosalie raised an eyebrow. She had no idea that Emmett had even talked to Bella. She glanced back at Bella questioningly. To her surprise, Bella didn't freak out at the action. Rosalie knew that humans were a little sensitive about inattentive driving, especially at the speeds Rosalie tended to drive at. "We share a PE class. He's the only one that offers any sort of challenge. It's kind of inevitable that we talk." She said, answering the unasked question. Rosalie nodded, her attention back on the road.

A drive that normally took a little over an hour, only took Rosalie forty five minutes, the trio arriving around 11. The blonde vampire pulled into the parking lot of the mall. Alice was immediately out of the car, buzzing excitedly as Bella and Rosalie got out as well. The pixie like vampire almost pulled both Rosalie and Bella behind her, into the building.

"Is she always this… excitable?" Bella asked. Rosalie chuckled.

"You'll get used to it," Rosalie said. Alice glared at her sister. "What?" Rosalie asked innocently. Bella just laughed.

"So, where to first?" Bella asked Alice, getting the small vampire's attention back to the matter at hand.

IV.

Alice dragged Bella and Rosalie around the mall for the next few hours, popping in and out of stores, both boutiques and department stores. Even though Bella wasn't attending homecoming, Alice still picked out multiple outfits for the brunette to try on in each store. Rosalie was rather impressed at Bella's ability to keep up with Alice. The girl's easy going personality meshing rather well with Alice's excitability.

Rosalie was internally pleased that Alice was getting along with Bella. She could tell that Alice wasn't entirely comfortable around Bella, but she was trying. Rosalie was currently trying on an elegant black dress in one of the smaller stores they had visited so far. She exited the dressing room, looking herself over in the mirror as Alice looked her up and down.

"That's beautiful on you Rose." Alice said happily. Rosalie turned a little, admiring the dress.

"Yes, I think so as well." She said. Her attention turned to the dressing room as the door next to her own opened, Bella walking out of it in one of the outfits Alice had picked out for her. The tiny vampire had tried to pick out dresses for Bella, but the brunette had protested, insisting that she didn't wear dresses. Alice had pouted for the first few stores, but eventually relented and picked out some more masculine outfits for her. This particular outfit was comprised of a pair of black slacks, a light red plaid shirt, and a black vest.

Rosalie raised an eyebrow as Bella eyed her as well. "I agree with Alice. That dress is nice on you." Bella said with a genuine smile, clearly admiring Rosalie's look. Again, Rosalie found her ego swelling at the compliment and gaze.

"You don't look half bad yourself. You clean up nicely." She replied honestly.

"Yeah, I think I might buy this." Bella said. "You should buy that dress."

"I was planning on it." Rosalie said. Alice cleared her throat.

"I'm still here you two!" Alice said, getting in between the pair. "And yes, both of you have to get these outfits!" Alice insisted. Bella nodded, taking one more look at Rosalie before heading back into the dressing room.

"She totally has the hots for you, Rose," Alice said quietly and quickly as Bella went back into the dressing room. Too quietly for Bella to hear. Rosalie just frowned.

"She's… a friend, Alice." Rosalie insisted. Alice gave her a skeptical look.

"It was like I wasn't even here when she was looking at you." Alice insisted. Rosalie just scoffed.

"Don't start." Rosalie hissed, heading back into the dressing room before her sister had the chance to respond.

The two paid for their outfits. Though not without some argument. Rosalie offered to pay since the Cullens had way more money than they ever needed, but Bella refused. "It's really not a problem, Bella," Rosalie said, Alice nodding in agreement. "Think of it as a gift for putting up with Alice's shopaholic personality today," Rosalie said, though Alice just pouted. But Bella shook her head.

"I appreciate the gesture, but it's not necessary. I have more than enough disposable income. I promise." She insisted. Rosalie eyed Bella closely. She knew that Bella had to have money from somewhere to support her traveling habits, if the stories that she had told Rosalie in the past were true. But she had never been able to get the information out of the brunette.

"I'm not going to able to convince you, am I?" Rosalie asked and Bella shook her head. The blonde sighed, but relented. The three left the mall after the last store, walking out to Rosalie's car to put their purchases in the trunk. Rosalie had left with a few bags, Bella with just that single outfit, and obviously, Alice had picked out a few things from each store they had visited.

Darkness was beginning to fall when the left the mall. "Want to get dinner?" Rosalie asked, knowing that humans needed to eat. They had a quick lunch at the mall, but Alice was so eager to get back to shopping, that it really had been pretty quick. Bella looked up at the sky.

"I still want to visit this bookstore." She said. "It's just down the road a bit, easily in walking distance. Alice mentioned that there was this boutique that she wanted to visit," Bella said, glancing at Alice for confirmation, who nodded in agreement. "You two want to visit there while I check out the bookstore and meet you at that Italian restaurant in, say an hour?" She asked. Rosalie wanted to protest. She wasn't super enthused about letting Bella roam around Port Angeles on her own, but the look Bella gave her made it clear that the offer wasn't up for negotiation.

"If you're sure…" Rosalie said uneasily.

"I'll be fine, Rose. I can take care of myself." Bella reassured her. Rosalie sighed.

"Another thing I'm not going to able to talk you out of, correct?" She asked, and Bella nodded.

"I'll be careful." She said. Rosalie nodded slowly.

"Fine, an hour." Rosalie said seriously, Alice nodding.

"Good, I'll see you then." Bella said, giving Rosalie a reassuring smile, heading off.

V.

Rosalie felt like something was off. She sat at the boutique, giving Alice her opinions on various outfits. Alice had tried to get Rosalie to try some on herself, but the blonde was too distracted. Bella was out of range of her senses, but she still felt uneasy. "Are you okay, Rose?" Alice asked, concerned for her sister. Rosalie shrugged.

"Something just seems… wrong." She admitted.

"Is it about Bella?" Alice asked and Rosalie nodded in response.

"I just… can't shake the feeling. I should… go find her." She said, getting up. Alice glanced at the clock.

"It couldn't hurt I guess. We're due to meet up in five minutes anyway. I'll meet you at the restaurant?" She asked. Rosalie nodded gratefully.

She left the shop, sniffing the air, hoping to catch Bella's scent. She smelt the faint smell of a campfire, surprisingly intermingled with sulfur and… something else. Rosalie frowned, walking in the direction of the scent, taking a deep breath. Rosalie felt her body tense, a little panicked as she identified the other scents. Cigarettes and alcohol. And something else that Rosalie recognized. Rosalie snarled. She knew that scent well.

She walked quickly and with a purpose in the direction of the scent, the smell getting stronger. She turned the corner into a dark alley, at this point she was a snarling mess. She took another breath, the smell of sulfur becoming the overwhelming scent, overpowering everything else.

Rosalie turned a final corner to a dead end. She was sure her eyes were pitch black at this point. She had worked out in her anger hazed mind that Bella had been herded into this alley, by drunk men who had one thing on their mind. Something that hit close to home for Rosalie and sent her into a near murderous rage. She heard a scream as she turned the final corner. Rosalie growled loudly before the scene before her actually registered in her brain.

Before her was Bella, completely unharmed, a couple of mangled corpses on the ground, near unrecognizable as once human. Another, his neck in Bella's grip, a bright red glow visible from under Bella's shirt, emanating from her back. Her orange eyes glowed brightly. In the dark, Rosalie couldn't mistake them for a reflection or reaction to other light sources. Bella's arm muscles rippled, but perhaps the thing that made Rosalie pause was Bella's other hand.

Flames engulfed Bella's free hand, as she held it up in front of the man's face, the drunken and dirty man screaming in panic. "No one can hear your screams," Bella said, her voice unrecognizable as human. The woman pressed her hand to the man's chest, setting his shirt on fire, the howls of the man going unanswered beyond the cruel look in Bella's orange eyes that Rosalie had never seen before. Rosalie heard the man's neck snap as Bella dropped him to the ground and let his body burn.

Bella looked up in Rosalie's direction, the red glow fading away and Bella's bright and glowing eyes returning to normal. The brunette open and closed her fist, the flames dying out. "I suppose I owe you an explanation."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo... 
> 
> This chapter was actually such a pain to get started. I wrote the beginning so many time over the last week, you would not believe the trouble it's given me. That said, I ended up liking the outcome. It's a little long, and I considered trying to break it into two, but there just really isn't a convenient place to break it, so I just wrote one large one. 
> 
> Next chapter you'll find out some more of the details about Bella and the AU in general. And I plan to try my hardest to upload it sometime this weekend, so you won't have to wait at a really kind of mean cliffhanger for a week.


	9. Chapter 9

I.

"What…" Rosalie shook her head a little, trying to drink in the sight in front of her. Bella approached Rosalie slowly, as if not to spook her. "What… did you do?" Rosalie managed to get out. Bella had the grace to look a little guilty.

"Defended myself." She said quietly. Rosalie growled a little as Bella took a step toward her. The brunette immediately stopped moving. "I'm not going to hurt you." She tried. Rosalie snarled a little. Her instincts were going wild after what she had just witnessed.

"Forgive me if I'm not entirely sure I trust that right now." Rosalie hissed. Bella nodded.

"That's probably fair." She tried to joke lightly. But Rosalie just frowned.

"I'm really over all of the secrecy, Bella," Rosalie said, trying to keep her voice calm, despite the desire to shout.

"And I… you deserve an explanation. But not here." She said. "Can we go back to Forks? I'll tell you there. This is something that needs to be addressed in private," She implored. Rosalie found herself nodding, wanting answers to her questions.

"We should… clean this up." Rosalie said weakly, glancing at the bodies. Bella waved it off, rather casually.

"It'll be taken care of." She assured Rosalie. The blonde went to protest, but Bella cut her off. "No one will know what happened here. Except us." She said. Rosalie hesitated, but Bella gave her a look. Rosalie sighed.

"Fine." She said curtly. She pulled out her cell phone, dialing Alice as the two walked out of the alley.

"Rose? Is everything okay?" Alice said on the other end of the line. Rosalie sighed.

"It will be. Meet us back at the car, we're going back now." She said. Alice questioned what happened again, but Rosalie didn't leave any room for argument, hanging up on her sister.

"Don't take it out on her," Bella said, grabbing Rosalie's wrist. The blonde vampire growled, wrenching her arm out of Bella's grip.

"Don't touch me right now," Rosalie said, not completely in full control of herself. And despite everything, she didn't want to hurt Bella. The brunette complied, respectfully not attempting to make contact with Rosalie after the warning. The two walked back to the car in silence, Alice already there waiting for them.

"Get in," Rosalie growled.

"Rose…" Alice started.

"Just get in, please Alice," Rosalie said, her voice a little softer, more defeated as Bella climbed into the back. Alice seemed to get the hint that something had happened between the two that neither of them wanted to talk about. Alice sighed, but got in. As soon as the door shut, Rosalie started up the car and headed back to Forks.

II.

The trio got back to Forks in record time. Instead of dropping Bella off at her house, Rosalie made her way to the Cullen place directly. Alice kept glancing at her sister, but the ride back had been completely silent. Rosalie could tell Alice was dying to ask what happened, but she wisely kept her mouth shut for the time being. She could sense Rosalie's tenseness right under the surface.

They pulled up to the Cullen house, Rosalie out of the car immediately. Alice climbed out as well, Bella getting out slowly, her eyes never leaving Rosalie. "We're going for a walk, Alice. Don't wait up. I'll get Bella home safely." Rosalie said.

"Are you sure that's…" Alice asked, but Bella put a hand on Alice's shoulder to get her attention.

"We just need to talk, that's all. It was a fun day Alice, We should do it again sometime." She said with a small smile. Alice smiled back, nodding.

"I think I'd enjoy that." She said, glancing at her sister briefly. Rosalie stalked off into the forest. Bella gave Alice an apologetic look before following Rosalie into the woods behind the Cullen house.

The two walked away from the house, silent until they were out of earshot of any other vampires, then Rosalie lost it. "What the fuck was that Bella?" She yelled, her eyes darkening to black. Bella held her hands up in an attempt to calm the irate vampire down.

"Just let me show you something." She said. Rosalie nodded curtly, her breathing slow, trying to calm herself down from her outburst. Bella inhaled, pulling her shirt over her head. Rosalie took a quick breath as Bella revealed what she had been hiding. The brunette was wearing a bra under the shirt, but as she turned around, Rosalie tensed.

On Bella's back was a large open wound, It looked like it should be bleeding. But it didn't. Instead, the skin split but no blood poured out. However, it was the shape of the wound that made Rosalie flinch. On Bella's back was an inverted pentagram. The upper two points of the pentagram spread across her shoulder blades, one on each, the bottom single point pointing towards another sigil carved into her back that Rosalie didn't recognize. The pentagram was accompanied by a circle, with a few inches of each point sticking out of the circle. "What…" Rosalie trailed off, stepping closer to get a better look.

"You can touch it. It doesn't hurt." Bella said, glancing over her shoulder at the vampire. Rosalie, almost in a trance, reached out and touched the symbol. She ran her cool fingers along the broken skin, tracing the pentagram.

"What is this?" Rosalie asked quietly, her anger being replaced by curiosity and a bit of awe.

"It's a symbol. A mark if you'd like." Bella said.

"But what…" Rosalie trailed off.

"It's the mark of a demon," Bella admitted quietly. Rosalie growled quietly.

"You're a… demon?" Rosalie asked incredulously. Bella nodded, turning to face Rosalie.

"And I know you're a vampire. You and your entire family. You don't need to hide it anymore." Bella said.

"What? That's..." Rosalie tried, but Bella just gave her a skeptical look. Rosalie sighed. "How long?" She asked.

"Have I known?" Bella asked and Rosalie nodded. She chuckled. "Since I first saw you in that club," Bella said. "Your kind are rather… easy to spot." Bella said with a laugh.

"Demons are real?" Rosalie interrupted, Bella's words finally sinking in. Bella took a serious look.

"Yes. There's a lot more out there than just vampires and shifters, Rosalie." Bella said.

"But aren't most demons male?" She asked, recalling some of the religious texts she had studied as a human, as well as from her family. Carlisle and Edward especially still held on to their religion. But Bella shrugged.

"We once were. Even I was at one point. But it's easier for many of us to operate as females. As we've found out over the centuries." She said casually. Rosalie had a million questions running through her head, but one stuck out in particular.

"Who are you?" Rosalie blurted out. Bella looked at her grimly.

"I can't… tell you." Bella said. Rosalie was about to protest, but Bella continued. "It's for your own safety. A demon's name is their power. To know the name is to hold power over the demon. Many over the millennia many have sought to discover my name. Some have. But there are those in this world that would do anything to discover my true name. Including find, torture and kill those who do know." Bella said.

"I wouldn't…" Rosalie trailed off. Bella nodded as she pulled her shirt back over her head.

"It's not that I don't trust you with it. I promise. It's just safer for now. For both of us. Your mind reader brother would… be tempted to use it if he knew."

"I can hide my thoughts from him," Rosalie reassured her. Bella smirked.

"I know, but I'd rather be safe about it. I'll tell you one day, I swear." Bella said. Knowing that she wasn't going to budge on the subject anymore, Rosalie nodded in defeat. "I do need you to keep this a secret though," Bella mentioned. "I'd rather not… be exposed for now." Bella admitted.

"Why pose as a human at all? Don't demons… you know?" Rosalie asked. Bella let out a laugh.

"What? Possess people? Whisper in the ears of men to tempt them to sin?" Bella said. Rosalie looked a little sheepish. Bella chuckled, leaning her back against a tree, hands in her pockets. "I once did. I still do occasionally, but this world doesn't need our help anymore." Bella said.

"Our?" Rosalie asked.

"You didn't think it was just me, did you? When I told you about my siblings, I was telling you the truth. Or at least a version of it. What do you think a room full of demonic family members would be like?" Bella teased. Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"I can't say I could imagine what that's like," Rosalie said, looking Bella over.

"It's a whole lot of grandstanding, trying to outdo each other, bragging about who tricked their summoners more. How many they've damned. Petty stuff like that." Bella shrugged. "It's all rather tiring after having centuries to build up a reputation."

"So demons have family members?" Rosalie asked, genuinely curious. She knew she should be somewhat frightened of the revelation, but she had been so consumed by her curiosity about Bella, that being offered even partial answers to her question overrode any other feelings she was having. At least for the moment.

"Not all do. But I do." Bella said cryptically. "I'd answer further, but if I name any of my siblings, it makes it easier to identify me," Bella said apologetically. Rosalie nodded.

So do you have little horns and a forked tail?" Rosalie half joked. Bella genuinely laughed.

"Want to see?" Bella asked and Rosalie nodded with some eagerness. The demon smirked, taking a breath. Rosalie watched as Bella shifted into her demonic form.

It was like her human body just dissolved and left another being in its place. Where Bella had been standing a second ago was an entirely new entity. Bella's new form was humanoid, but did have red skin, though it lacked the tail. Surprisingly, it seemed genderless to Rosalie's eyes, but it did present vaguely masculine. The new form had short, platinum blonde hair atop its head, large black horns protruding from its forehead. Its hands sporting sharp black claws. Its eyes remained the bright orange. "So?" Bella asked, voice completely different. It was low, almost a growl. More male sounding than female, but with an animalistic quality to it. Rosalie shivered a little, raising an eyebrow.

"Impressive." She said. Bella nodded, before shifting back to her human form. "So how does it work? You seem human in that form." She said, gesturing to Bella. The brunette scratched the back of her neck awkwardly.

"It's a long story." She finally replied. Rosalie raised an eyebrow.

"And one that you're not going to tell me, right?" She guessed. Bella looked a little sheepish but nodded.

"It's a lot to take in. I don't want to overload you with too much." She said. "Is everything… okay?" Bella asked hesitantly. "Because I'd understand if you didn't want anything to do with me anymore." She said sadly. Rosalie opened her mouth then closed it again.

"I'm… not sure." She answered honestly. Now that she had more information on Bella, she really wasn't sure. She still felt that primal pull towards Bella, but her waking mind and consciousness protested. Bella was now most certainly the most dangerous entity in Forks and theoretically could likely decimate them all in a single swipe.

"I promise I don't mean you or your family any harm if that means anything to you." Bella offered. "I was telling you the truth when I said I was a traveler. I've been a wanderer for centuries now. Today was… unfortunate." Bella said, though there was a hardness to her voice. "But if I hadn't taken care of those men, they would have preyed on someone that was truly unable to defend themselves." She justified.

"Those humans, they meant to…" Rosalie trailed off, unwilling to say it out loud, but Bella nodded.

"They did, and they will burn for eternity because of it," Bella replied darkly. A dark part of Rosalie's soul found pleasure at that.

"You know that for a fact?" Rosalie asked. Bella nodded grimly.

"Hell isn't just a place of religious nightmares." She said cryptically, a cruel glint in her eye.

"I have so many questions…" Rosalie trailed off, looking at Bella in a new light. She couldn't say she fully trusted the brunette, but the anger and fear she had when they had entered the forest together had given way for hesitant curiosity. Perhaps still a little bit of fear, but Rosalie instinctively knew that she was telling her the truth when Bella said she wouldn't harm her. She couldn't explain the feeling, but it was there. And despite her better judgment, she was going to trust that instinct.

"And I can't give you all the answers for now. But I will try my best." Bella said, gesturing for Rosalie to continue with her questioning.

"Why the red glow?" She asked. Bella smiled.

"Now that, I can answer. Demons can appear as humans under certain circumstances, but there are some things that we are unable to hide through demonic means. I can simulate a heartbeat, blood flow, other human biological functions. You might have noticed my body temperature is close but not quite at a normal human temperature." Bella said. Rosalie nodded, that was something she had noticed.

"Yes, we ruled out the possibility of you being a shifter because you weren't warm enough." She confirmed. Bella nodded.

"A human body is unable to contain all of the demonic energy. Or soul if that's easier to conceptualize. Our natural forms run very hot. We can cool it to a degree, but not to the normal human temperatures." She clarified. Rosalie nodded, gesturing for her to continue. "The orange eyes? Another thing we are unable to change. It's our natural demonic color in most cases. There are some who can conceal it, but not for long periods of time."

"So they're not all orange?" Rosalie questioned. Bella shook her head.

"No, some are red. Some black. Others gold like yours. Like humans, it varies." Bella said. "The mark on my back is perhaps the most obvious sign. That appears on any human we possess, overtake, or appear as for any long extended period of time. And when we use our powers, it glows red." Bella said, answering Rosalie's initial questions.

"And the disappearing acts?" She pressed. Bella snorted.

"There are many humans in this world that do not fear us. Or so they say. They all do to some degree, just some more than others. But it's not uncommon for them to summon us. By invoking my summoning ritual, I'm bound to at least hear them. I don't necessarily have to make a deal with them, or even answer them. But sometimes I do." Bella shrugged. Rosalie nodded in understanding.

"Why do you not affect me in the same way you affect my siblings?" Rosalie asked, another question that had been killing her for quite some time. Bella just sighed, pushing away from the tree and stepping closer to Rosalie. This time, the blonde didn't back away.

"As you could probably imagine, most beings in this world have a natural aversion to demons. We're creatures of pure darkness, evil perhaps if you'd like to see it that way. We aren't predators like vampires are but we are on a higher plane of existence than most other creatures. Thus most others know us, subconsciously, to be a threat and we invoke the same fear response. Vampires are no different. In fact, your brother Edward and father Carlisle, they have even stronger responses to my kind, as individuals of religion." Bella explained. "As for why you're not as affected, that I can't answer," Bella said, a hint of regret in her voice. Rosalie frowned.

"But you know the reason?" She pressed and Bella nodded. "Then why not tell me?" Bella inhaled.

"Because that's an answer you're still not ready for. Give it some time to sink in. That I'm a demon. Make up your mind if you want to continue to have anything to do with me. Then I'll tell you." Bella said. Rosalie opened her mouth, but thought better of it. Perhaps Bella was right. It was a lot to take in at once. The fact that one of the first individuals that had captivated her attention since Emmett, was in fact, a demon of old.

It gave her a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... 
> 
> This is not nearly close to knowing all there is to know about Bella's backstory; who she is. And part of that story is Rosalie unraveling the mystery. Hence why this story is pretty much solely told from Rosalie's point of view. It wouldn't be near as fun if you guys knew it all off the bat. That said, I may insert a Bella point of view chapter here and there where appropriate. I just want to be mindful to not give away too much before its time. 
> 
> Anyway, I've watched a lot of horror movies that concern demons in the last year or so. They're actually one of the things that inspired me to write this. The depiction of demons here is largely based on the biblical representation of demons though admittedly there isn't a whole ton of readily available information out there for what I had in mind. So there is quite a bit of Hollywood inspired interpretation, along with my own imagination. Which does lend to having a bit more depth to the subject matter than just your stereotypical evil villain dude that gets exorcized by the end of the movie.
> 
> I hope this was at least somewhat satisfying as far as a reveal is concerned, along with getting some of the initial questions answered. But there's plenty more to look at and for everyone to discover. You can count on that.


	10. Chapter 10

I.

Bella left Rosalie to herself after the big revelation. Rosalie had a lot more questions, but they could wait. She would have been worried about Bella wandering around the forest alone, but after finding out… well… she was far less concerned. The blonde decided to spend a bit more time to herself before heading back to the house.

Bella was a demon. Rosalie still couldn't wrap her head around that. The very idea that the world of angels and demons was real. Rosalie shook her head to herself as she walked through the trees. She sensed animals scattering as she walked, but she didn't have the urge to feed. Just to think.

So many thoughts ran through Rosalie's mind, but the one that stood out the most was Bella's question to her. Did she want to continue to be Bella's friend? She knew in her heart that the answer was yes. Despite the danger Bella posed, she liked the brunette woman. She could see that now. It wasn't just contingency or intel gathering. She considered Bella a friend. And now that she knew Bella wasn't human, there wasn't the risk of exposure. Plus since Bella already knew about vampires, she wouldn't have to hide herself. Or at least, that part of herself. She still was reluctant to discuss her past. Though she had the feeling that if Bella had been around as long as Rosalie suspected, she had a good chance of knowing the gist of it.

However, there was also still a lot Bella was hiding as well. Important things that Rosalie needed answers to. The question at the forefront of her mind was the answer to the question Bella refused to answer. Why wasn't Rosalie affected by the natural aversion to demons? She didn't consider herself a religious individual, even as a human she barely had an interest other than it was expected in the 1920s. But Bella had said that any creature had some sort of reaction. And Rosalie supposed she did, but she was drawn towards Bella, not repelled by her. If she didn't know better, she'd have thought that she was mated to the demon.

But was that even possible? She didn't feel anything akin to a mating pull towards Bella. Or at least, not from what she heard as she had never experienced it. And did demons even mate? Rosalie suspected not. If the depictions of demons were correct, though she supposed she probably could ask Bella. Though if she would get an answer from her was a whole other matter.

Rosalie's feet seemed to have a mind of their own as she reached a clearing. The same clearing where she had seen the black goat for the first time. She looked around, not expecting to see it. But to her surprise, it walked cautiously into the clearing with her. "You again." She said. The goat bowed its head like it was nodding in affirmation.

"I'm guessing you have something to do with Bella?" She asked. At this point, she wouldn't even be surprised if it did understand her, knowing what she did now. The goat reared up on its hind legs, nodding its head before falling back to all fours. Rosalie chuckled. "I'm having a conversation with a goat." She mumbled to herself. To her surprise, the goat huffed, blowing smoke out of its nostrils. Rosalie took a step back out of reflex.

"You're certainly supernatural." She commented. The goat looked up at her. It bleated before rearing up on its hind legs again before running off into the trees. Rosalie watched it go, wondering what connection it had to Forks' resident demon.

II.

Rosalie returned back to the Cullen home, careful to hide her thoughts in case the boys had returned from their trip early, but she came back to Alice and Esme being the only ones home. The blonde made a beeline for the garage, shutting the door behind her, looking at her nearly completed project car.

The Jeep was mechanically complete, and mostly cosmetically finished. It just needed a new coat of paint, a wax and it would be finished and ready to gift to her brother. Rosalie sighed, putting her hair up in a ponytail, grabbing the sander and powered it up. She started at the front and worked her way back, sanding the paint off the few parts that were still intact from the old car, sanding in medium-sized circles.

There was a hesitant knock at the garage door. Rosalie groaned, powering down the sander. "Come in." She said, knowing who had knocked. Though, considering her history, it was a miracle that Alice had knocked at all. She opened the door slowly and walked into the garage. "Can I help you, Alice?" Rosalie asked dryly.

"I just… are you okay?" She asked. Rosalie raised an eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She questioned. Alice looked at her sister curiously.

"It's just that you were pretty tense earlier, on the way back. Just thought I'd ask." She replied. Rosalie sighed, giving her sister her full attention.

"Yes, Alice. I'm fine." She reassured Alice.

"And Bella?" She asked. Rosalie took a quick breath in.

"It was nothing, just a misunderstanding." Rosalie deflected. Not necessarily a lie, but far from the whole truth too. But Alice looked skeptical.

"You were acting like the Volturi was on our doorstep. And now it's just 'a misunderstanding'?" Alice looked at her sister suspiciously. Though Rosalie had long perfected her poker face and didn't let her icy mask drop.

"As I said, Bella and I just needed to clear the air a bit. It's fine." Rosalie said dismissively. But Alice just sighed, knowing that fighting with Rosalie when her mind was made up was a wasted effort.

"If you say so," Alice said apprehensively.

"I do. Thank you for your concern though. I know Bella sets you, and the rest of the family, on edge." She said. Alice nodded.

"You like her, that's enough for most of us," Alice reassured her sister. Rosalie sighed, looking away from Alice, back at the Jeep.

"But not all of you," Rosalie said quietly. Alice didn't bother to contradict her.

III.

The rest of the weekend Rosalie spent mainly in the garage or in her room. The boys returned from their hunting trip Sunday afternoon and Rosalie had to be far more careful with her thoughts. She was mindful of Bella's request to keep her identity a secret, thus whenever she was around Edward she carefully constructed a wall of bad 80s songs to keep him away. Edward was none the wiser. He had long gotten used to Rosalie being defensive over her mind. She had always been more apprehensive over his gift than the rest of the family.

Though during her solo hunting trip she took Sunday night, she made up her mind. Bella was a friend. Or at least, Rosalie felt like she was. Despite the secret keeping, Rosalie wasn't exactly in a position to judge. She had her fair share of supernatural secrets that she hoarded like a dragon hoarded gold.

Rosalie jumped a deer, snapping the neck quickly and drinking from the animal. She felt her thirst dying away in her throat as she drank before dropping the fully drained deer. She inhaled, taking in the forest air. Then, there was the sound of clapping. Rosalie's head shot towards the sound, only to see a smirking Bella sitting on a low tree branch.

"Impressive. Clean kill. Much better than some of your siblings." Bella said. Rosalie frowned.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. Bella shrugged, hopping down from the branch, onto the ground next to Rosalie. The blonde tensed a little out of reflex, but willed her body to relax.

"I was just in the neighborhood." Bella teased. Rosalie just rolled her eyes.

"That's what you're going with?" She asked dryly. Bella just chuckled.

"When you've been around as long as I have, amusement sometimes comes from the most cheesy sources," Bella replied. Rosalie cracked a small smile.

"And how long have you been around?" She asked directly. Bella raised an eyebrow.

"So you do believe me?" She countered. Rosalie nodded.

"Did you think I would not? You changed into your demonic form right in front of me." Rosalie reminded her.

"Sometimes people, supernatural or not, will rationalize anything to fit how they see the world," Bella said.

"Perhaps true, but you never answered my question," Rosalie said coyly. Bella laughed.

"You are correct. To answer your question, I have been around since the beginning. Before the beginning in fact." Bella answered. Rosalie frowned.

"A fallen angel?" Rosalie questioned, knowing the basics of the story. Bella gave her a knowing look.

"There are three different kinds of demons in this world. Perhaps more exist in another. But this one…" Bella said thoughtfully. "Those of us who defied God and were cast out. Those that have fallen since. And the Nephilim."

"What's the difference?" Rosalie asked, genuinely curious about the breakdown of the divine world.

"The original demons are far more powerful, generally speaking. It is possible for the after demons to ascend the ranks, but it's rare. Most that fall are at the mercy of the princes, serving in one of their legions. The rare few that become lords have some seniority over the underlings, but still are bound to serve a prince's will." Bella answered. "And the Nephilim, well let's just say some of my brothers have a thing for human women," Bella said with some disgust.

"And you are…?" Rosalie dared to ask. Bella just snorted.

"That would be far too revealing for now," Bella said.

"So you're saying that your a high ranked demon if telling me your title would make it easy to identify you?" Rosalie said with some smugness.

"Ah, you've got me there." Bella conceded. "No matter. The fact you are asking me questions, am I to take that as you wish to continue our friendship?" Bella deflected. Rosalie nodded affirmatively.

"Yes. I… I don't make friends easily, but you are one that I desire to keep." Rosalie said, with honesty, but keeping her demeanor detached.

"Good, I'm glad," Bella said with a small smile.

IV.

That Monday, things went back to normal. Or at least, as normal as things could be for Rosalie knowing that her friend was a demon. She still didn't know a lot of the particulars or details of everything. But Bella seemed to be more forthcoming now that things were more out in the open.

"So do demons have a hierarchy?" Rosalie asked one day in their shared history class. At first she had been wary of talking about it in school, given that her siblings could be listening in. But Bella assured her that their conversations would be protected. It made sense to Rosalie, as Alice had said that it was like she and Bella had disappeared that one day when Bella went after her during lunch. A handy demonic power that Rosalie had no issue taking advantage of.

"Hmm?" Bella asked, looking up from the notebook she was looking at. "Oh, yes." She answered. "There are four crown princes, the seven princes, and the lords. It would take too long to name all the lords and to be honest, I don't even know all their names." She said.

"But the princes?" Rosalie asked curiously. Bella nodded.

"Humans have seemed to separate them into two different classifications, depending on who you ask for some reason. But it's all one in the same. The seven are based on the modern-day seven deadly sins. Or perhaps more accurately, the seven deadly sins were based on the demonic princes." Bella said, flipping to a new page in her notebook, writing down the hierarchy on the clean page. "Lucifer, the prince of pride. Mammon, the prince of greed. Asmodeus, the prince of lust. Leviathan, the prince of envy. Beelzebub, the prince of gluttony. Satan, the prince of wrath, though he goes by Amon nowadays. He got far too annoyed by everyone confusing him with Lucifer. And Belphegor, the prince of sloth." She said, sliding the notebook over to Rosalie to get a closer look at.

"Some of these names are familiar." Rosalie murmured. Bella smirked, nodding.

"Many would be. Hollywood has certainly taken an interest in us. Rather inaccurately might I add. Though I'm sure you understand that. Human's depictions of vampires are far from the truth." She added. Rosalie nodded in agreement.

"So who are the crown princes?" She asked curiously.

"Three of the four are considered part of the seven. The most powerful of the seven. Lucifer, Satan or Amon, and Leviathan. The fourth is Belial, largely seen as the king of Hell." Bella finished, writing Belial's name on the top of the hierarchy list.

"Isn't that Lucifer though?" Rosalie asked. Bella chuckled.

"He is now, but that's only because Belial has been missing for a long time. No one has seen him since the end of the war." Bella said. "Good riddance to be honest. He's the reason we're in this mess." Bella lamented. Rosalie frowned.

"Why's that?" She asked.

"Because he's the one that convinced Lucifer to rebel in the first place."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I bought Kingdom Hearts 3 this week and well... 
> 
> Anyway, this is more of an informational chapter again, but we'll be getting back to more Rosalie/Bella content in the next few ones. Just introducing a few names and concepts that may or may not be important later on. I'll leave you to guess which ones and why.


	11. Chapter 11

I.

"I just don't understand why you hang out with her Rose," Edward said one evening a couple days before the homecoming dance. "She's -" Edward went to continue but Rosalie cut him off.

"None of your concern." She said sharply. "I have no intention of exposing us and she is none the wiser. And beyond that, you should mind your own business." Rosalie finished. She had been getting more and more irritated with her brother. Since she and Bella had strengthened their friendship, Rosalie began to care less and less what her family thought of their strange relationship.

Emmett had commented to her more than once that she was almost affectionate with Bella. In her own Rosalie sort of way.

" _If you're some all-powerful demonic force, why do you drive such a junker of a truck?" Rosalie asked one morning. It had become something of a routine for Rosalie to arrive at school early and talk with Bella at her truck, rather than join her siblings._

_Bella just shrugged. "Less conspicuous. Not all of us can drive cherry red BMWs." Bella teased, nodding her head in the direction of Rosalie's car. The blonde huffed._

" _I enjoy the finer things in life, sue me." She said. Bella laughed._

" _I meant no offense." She said with an amused tone to her voice. Rosalie raised an eyebrow, eyeing the truck Bella was sitting on._

" _At least let me fix it up a little. This beast is a screaming metal death trap." She said with some distasted._

" _I can't die, remember?" Bella said, a playful smile gracing her lips. Rosalie just rolled her eyes._

" _You know what I mean."_

" _I suppose it could use a bit of an upgrade," Bella said, glancing at the beat up truck. She held her hand out to Rosalie. "You've got yourself a job." She smirked. Rosalie just chuckled, her cold hand meeting Bella's warm one._

"She's a threat!" Edward insisted, breaking her from her thoughts that she had been keeping hidden behind conjugating Latin verbs. Rosalie frowned.

"She's a human." Rosalie said with some disinterest. "As if she could pose any real threat."

"A human that can perform supernatural feats and evade all of our gifts?" Come now Rosalie, surely you aren't fooled." He said smugly. Rosalie growled a little at the insinuation.

"We have no right to go snooping around in her life without more than a handful of weak suspicions, Edward." She said angrily. "I won't apologize for interacting with her. Least of all to you." Edward narrowed his eyes at her, but rather than responding, just angrily turned away and left his sister to herself.

II.

Rosalie pulled up in front of Bella's house, turning her car off and popping the trunk. She had loaded a few of her tools into the back. Enough to make an initial passthrough of Bella's truck and diagnose what she'd need to do to fix it up, perhaps make a few basic repairs while she was in there if she needed to.

She got out of her car, Bella already lazing on the porch, waiting for her. "Hey Rose." Bella said, getting up from her place on the step. Rosalie found herself smiling a bit at the sight of Bella, but caught herself grinning like a fool and in an instant had her face back to a rather impassive mask.

"Hey. Mind popping the hood of your truck for me?" Rosalie asked. Bella nodded in the affirmative, taking the keys out of her shirt pocket, unlocking the truck and pulling the lever to release the hood. Rosalie, while Bella was doing her task, grabbed one of the toolboxes out of the truck of her car, walking over to the truck, setting it on the ground as she flipped up the hood all the way, propping it up with the metal arm.

Bella hopped out of the truck, peering into the depths of her vehicle beside Rosalie. "What are we looking for?" She asked. Rosalie glanced Bella's way, pulling a flashlight out of the toolbox at her feet.

"Any signs of wear and tear damage, any parts that could be replaced or upgraded, this will probably require a wash and a new coat of paint, if you don't mind." She added at the end, not wanting to overstep too much and make presumptions. Bella shrugged.

"If you want," Bella replied. Rosalie chuckled.

"If it were up to me, you'd just be getting a whole new truck, but somehow, I think you'd be against that for some reason."

"Call me sentimental" Bella replied, somewhat seriously. Rosalie nodded.

"I suppose that's fair." She said, turning her attention back to the truck.

"How's the rest of the family?" Bella asked as Rosalie examined the engine block.

"Fine." She said curtly. "Edward is being difficult about this." She said, gesturing between the two of them, "But it's nothing I can't handle. He's been difficult since I met him." She half-joked. Bella snorted.

"He seems a little…." She paused, thinking about her words.

"Self-righteous?" Rosalie provided.

"I was going to say privileged, but that as well. People like him often are, however." She said, resting her forearms against the lip of the truck.

"What do you mean?" Rosalie asked without looking at Bella, turning her attention to the belts in the truck which looked like they were in dire need of replacing.

"Individuals like him, he was born in a time where it was very advantageous to be a white man of standing. The son of an accomplished lawyer and a loving mother. Despite the distance from his father, he wanted for very little as a child and into a young man." Bella said, her voice distant, like she was pulling memories from someone else's mind. This insight into Edward's life caused Rosalie to look up from the internals of the truck, seeing that Bella's mark was glowing.

"How could you possibly know that?" Rosalie asked hesitantly. Bella snorted, the glow fading.

"I'm a demon, remember? It's our job to know the history of individuals. To know their past is to know how best to tempt them." Bella informed her. Rosalie tensed a little.

"Does that mean….?" She asked, uncharacteristically timidly. But Bella shook her head.

"That I looked into your history? No, I have not." Bella replied. Rosalie sighed in relief. On some level, it would probably make their friendship easier, if Bella knew about her past without Rosalie having to come clean. But that felt like a violation of her privacy that she valued so greatly. And she didn't know how she would have reacted if Bella had breached that privacy.

"Why?" Rosalie asked curiously. Demons didn't peg her to be beings that considered the thoughts and feelings of others, even other supernatural creatures.

"You're my… friend." Bella said simply. "I want you to tell me what you want me to know, when you're ready. I have no intention of ever developing such a relationship with any one your family, especially Edward, so I don't have an issue using my powers on him. You, however… I wouldn't violate you in that way." Bella said softly. Rosalie's gaze softened a little, but only just.

"Thank you," Rosalie said honestly. Bella smiled.

III.

The next day, Rosalie found Bella waiting for her outside of her 3rd period class. "Bella, what are you doing here?" She questioned.

"Sit with me at lunch?" Bella asked, a little boldly. Rosalie raised an eyebrow.

"You won't find me caught dead at a table with Crowley, Newton, Stanley, and Mallory," Rosalie said with distaste. Bella laughed loudly.

"No, I mean at a different table, just you and me." She clarified. The two began to walk in the direction of the cafeteria as Rosalie thought about the offer.

"Why?" She asked curiously. Bella shrugged.

"You're far more interesting to talk to than any of the people I sit with, perhaps with the exception of Angela. For the daughter of a minister, she is tolerable." Bella said.

"Not overly religious?" Rosalie questioned.

"She is, but she's one of the few that takes her religion to heart, rather than twisting it into something that it isn't," Bella replied. Rosalie nodded in understanding. "So, you'll accept my offer?" Bella asked, bringing the conversation back around to the fact that Rosalie had still not answered her.

"Sure." The blonde replied. Bella nodded once, leading the two of them towards the cafeteria.

"You finished your art project?" Bella asked Rosalie as they walked. Rosalie nodded, she had finished the drawing the previous day.

"Yeah, have to turn it in today. And then I think we get our next project tomorrow perhaps. I think painting?" Rosalie responded. Bella nodded.

"I'm sure you're as good at that as you are at drawing." Bella teased, though Rosalie could tell she was also being completely honest with her assumption.

"I'm reasonable. Alice was always the better painter of the two of us though." She added. The two chatted about arbitrary things as they made their way to the cafeteria. The two sat down at a table in a secluded corner of the cafeteria together, Bella pulling a sandwich out of her bag. Rosalie's enhanced hearing could already hear the chatters around the cafeteria.

_Bella is sitting with the Ice Queen? No way._

_I didn't even know they were friends._

_I wonder what Bella bribed her with, there's no way someone as hot as Rosalie Hale would lower themselves to converse with her._

That last comment made Rosalie bite back a growl. Bella just chuckled, leaning back in her chair, taking a bite of her food. "Don't let them get to you. You and I know the truth. We are friends." Bella joked. Rosalie eyed Bella but sighed and nodded.

"Of course." She replied, glancing at her siblings who were all staring at her. Emmett gave her a subtle thumbs up under the table. Alice offered her an encouraging smile. Jasper just watched the two. And Edward was glowering at her. Rosalie chose to ignore her brother and turned her attention back to Bella.

"So, you must have some stories if you've been around since the beginning," Rosalie stated. Bella snorted.

"More than you could imagine," Bella said, somewhat evasively. "The world is far more complicated than most know."

"How so?"

"Much of humanity has sought to define the world in absolutes. Good and evil. Right and wrong. Black and white. There is no such thing. All these humans who cling to their petty religions in the hope that God will save them. There is no greater fool than a man who follows blindly in the footsteps of a long-removed deity." Bella said, a little bitterly. Rosalie raised an eyebrow at the tone Bella adopted.

"Does that not go against your nature to tempt humanity to sin? If there is sin, then isn't there righteousness in some form as well?" Rosalie challenged. Bella chuckled.

"Morality is a strange thing, isn't it?" Bella said, somewhat amused. "What is moral to one is not to another. There is no such thing as absolute good or absolute evil. Does murdering a rapist count as a sin or a virtue?" Bella questioned. "Eliminating one who would do irreparable harm against another. Some would call that an act of good." That hit a nerve in Rosalie's soul.

"Does intention matter?" She asked, a little more quietly. "Killing for revenge. Does the intention matter when the outcome is the same?" Bella's orange eyes connected with Rosalie's golden ones and the two stared at each other as a few moments passed.

"As I said, morality is a tricky thing." She responded. "I wouldn't worry about it." Breaking eye contact with Rosalie and waving her hand. "The land of God isn't all it's cracked up to be."

IV.

"So, if you're not going to homecoming, what are you planning on doing?" Rosalie asked that afternoon in their shared History class. The brunette shrugged.

"What I always do I guess."

"Which is?" Rosalie asked.

"Demon things." Bella teased. Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"So helpful." She said dryly.

"Hey, you asked. I'm assuming you're still going?" Bella asked curiously and Rosalie nodded affirmatively.

"Alice insists," Rosalie responded. Bella chuckled.

"She's really got your entire family wrapped around her finger," Bella commented.

"It's very difficult to say no to her." Bella nodded thoughtfully at Rosalie's response.

"Well, I hope you have a good time."

"It'll probably be far less interesting without you there." Rosalie blurted out. She frowned, the response having slipped from her lips without further thought. Bella let out a genuine laugh.

"Aw Rose, I didn't know you cared." She teased.

"Who else am I able to have conversations about good and evil with?" Rosalie defended. Bella just gave her a knowing smirk.

"Who indeed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies that this took so long. Writer's block and a paper cut on my finger made writing a bit of a difficulty. 
> 
> I haven't decided on any concrete timeline for them to get into more of a relationship, but I think it'll be somewhat soon.


	12. Chapter 12

I.

Rosalie got ready for the dance at a human’s pace. Despite being able to get herself ready at vampire speeds, and perfectly at that, there was something that comforted her to go it slow. It frustrated Alice to no end, she knew, but her sister would just have to wait. The blonde sat at her vanity, applying her eyeliner with a practiced hand. 

She really did not want to go to the dance, but Alice would certainly make her life difficult if she skipped out. She planned on just standing in a corner with Emmett, glaring at any boy that tried to approach her. She sighed, her bright golden eyes staring back at her in the mirror. 

“Rosalie! Are you almost finished in there?” She heard Alice say impatiently from outside her bedroom door. 

“Calm down Alice, I’ll be ready by the time we need to leave.” She reassured her sister. Alice huffed but walked away from her door. Rosalie chuckled to herself, finishing up her makeup quickly before sliding into her dress. The same black dress she had tried on the last weekend when she had gone shopping with Alice and Bella.

Bella. 

Rosalie wondered what the brunette was doing instead of the dance. She had said demon things, but Rosalie still really had no clue what that meant. Though at this point, she was used to Bella not really giving her straight answers in regards to certain facets of her life. She was particularly defensive over any identifying information, as well as her connection to Rosalie, though the blonde suspected there was something there. It didn’t feel like a mating bond. But Rosalie had no idea what else there was out there. Though, she had no idea angels and demons were real only a week ago. So there could be some reasonable explanation for it. 

What that didn’t explain was why Bella was so defensive about it. Whenever Rosalie even mentioned it in passing, the brunette would deflect to a different subject and steer the conversation elsewhere. It really frustrated Rosalie, but she was starting to learn to just live with it. She valued Bella’s friendship and the brunette, while she never answered some of the most burning questions, she didn’t seem off-put by the constant questioning either. 

Rosalie opened the door of her room and walked down the stairs to meet her siblings. Alice was waiting impatiently at the bottom of the steps, dressed to the nines. While all her brothers were lounging around their living room in their suits. “Let's get this over with.” Rosalie grouched, grabbing her purse and car keys, beckoning to Emmett. The bear-like vampire hopped by from the couch, a wide smile on his face, throwing an arm around Rosalie's shoulders. The blonde tensed briefly on reflex but forced herself to relax. 

“Let’s rock this joint!” Emmett yelled. Rosalie winced a little from her brother pretty much yelling in her ear, but she managed a small smile at her over enthusiastic brother. 

“C’mon you big lug.” She joked, walking out the door, not waiting for Emmett to follow her, though he was close behind her. The two vampires got in her car, Alice and Jasper climbing in with Edward in his silver Volvo and they drove out to Fork High. 

II.

Rosalie got out of the car, scanning the parking lot. Most student were making their way into the building that Rosalie could hear music pounding in. She winced a little, wanting to ditch the dance last minute, but she couldn’t do that to Alice. Rosalie didn’t understand her sister’s fascination with human high school dances, but Alice was family. And Rosalie loved her family. 

“Hey stranger.” Rosalie heard a familiar voice, her head snapping in the direction of said familiar voice to find Bella Swan, dressed up in the flannel shirt and vest combo she had bought the last weekend with a shit eating grin on her face. 

“Bella. What are you doing here?” Rosalie asked, a frown on her face. Bella shrugged, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her dress pants. Upon further inspection, this was the most dressed up Rosalie had ever seen Bella. 

“Oh, I was in the neighborhood, doing demon things and figured you could use the company.” Bella teased. Rosalie rolled her eyes, but her heart swelled a little. 

“What are you going to tell everyone else?” Rosalie whispered. Bella smirked. 

“Humans will be believe anything if you say it convincingly enough. I’ll just say my plans were canceled and you wanted me to come. That simple.” Bella replied. Rosalie nodded, knowing what Bella said was true. Most humans usually didn’t investigate too deeply. 

“That’s fair I suppose.” She said, giving Bella a once over. “You look nice.” She said, ever so uncharacteristically shy. Bella gave her an out of character, honest smile. 

“Thank you. You’re not too bad yourself.” Bella said, gesturing to Rosalie. The blonde smiled. Bella offered her arm to Rosalie. “Want to go cause a scene?” She joked, though both knew that arriving together would cause a lot of talk, both among the humans and Rosalie’s family. But the blonde found herself not caring as she took the offered arm. 

Emmett was nowhere to be seen. Rosalie suspected he had noticed Bella’s presence and had high tailed it out of there. She knew that all her siblings still felt off put by her. Bella escorted Rosalie into the gym. Rosalie noticed a few heads turn in their directions, a bunch of whispering about how Bella was actually attending the dance even though she said she wouldn’t be, and the fact she seemed to have Rosalie Hale as her date. Bella chuckled, guiding Rosalie gently through some crowds of students to an empty space along the wall. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Rosalie asked, somewhat amused. She knew Bella well enough to know that she relished in making others feel uncomfortable. The brunette shrugged. 

“Humans are too easy.” She said casually. “Vampires sometimes are as well.” She said, eyeing Rosalie. The blonde felt is she was still capable, a blush would have spread across her face, but she hid it well and just rolled her eyes in typical Rosalie fashion. 

“My siblings are certainly reluctant to spend more than five minutes in the same room with you.” She said dryly. She didn’t necessarily mind since one of her brothers in particular seemed to want to stick his nose where it didn’t belong. But if Bella was going to be a more permanent fixture in her life, she did hope that Bella would be able to be around Emmett, Alice and Jasper at the very least. She didn’t think it would be a stretch for Emmett and Alice. Jasper, however, was a different matter. 

“That is unlikely to ever fully go away.” Bella admitted, leaning against the wall, arms crossed and facing Rosalie. “I’m not a predator for vampires exactly, but I’m a threat, I give off those vibes.” She shrugged. “Perhaps in the future they will learn to ignore the instinct, if they learn I don’t mean them harm. But it will never fully go away.” 

“And I’m different?” Rosalie questioned again. Bella sighed, but nodded. 

“Yes.” She said, not bothering to elaborate. “Do you want to dance?” Bella asked abruptly. Rosalie scoffed, knowing Bella brought it up to change the subject, but she nodded. 

“Sure.” Rosalie said, determined to get a straight answer out of Bella in the near future. She took Bella’s outstretched hand as the brunette led her into the crowd that was already on the dance floor. Bella pulled Rosalie closer, wrapping a hand carefully around Rosalie’s waist, clearly mindful of where her hands were placed. Rosalie was grateful for the care, putting a hand on Bella’s shoulder. Her enhanced hearing picked up some murmers between various couples on the floor about the intimacy between the two, especially given Rosalie’s reputation as the Ice Queen at Forks High School. 

“Ignore them.” Bella whispered in Rosalie’s ear before leading Rosalie in something akin to the high school shuffle. “How much do you want to bet that the entire school will think we’re dating by tomorrow?” Bella said with a chuckle. Rosalie laughed softly. 

“Knowing this small of a town and how quickly word spreads, it wouldn’t surprise me if the entire town already thought we were.” She joked. Bella smiled genuinely, nodding. 

“And you wouldn’t mind?” She asked, pulling Rosalie closer to her. The blonde found herself shaking her head. 

“No.” She said quietly, so quietly that Rosalie was sure if Bella hadn’t had enhanced senses of her own that she wouldn’t have heard her response. 

“Good.” Bella said, her orange eyes almost glowing in the low light as they stared at Rosalie. The blonde found herself drifting closer to Bella, the brunette seemed not to stop her either. Their faces were mere inches away from each other, but Bella suddenly let out a pained growl. Rosalie snapped out of whatever trance she was in, retreating back to her personal space, looking concerned at the painful look Bella had in her eyes. 

“Bella? What’s wrong?” Rosalie asked, clearly concerned about the brunette. Bella groaned, grabbing Rosalie’s hand and dragging her off the dance floor, forcing their way through the throng of students around them. A few of them tried to ask if Bella was okay, but the brunette just brushed them off, mumbling that she needed to use the restroom. 

The two found an empty bathroom down the hall, as most people were using the restrooms right off the gym. Bella’s eyes were glowing brightly as she waved a hand towards the door once the two were safely inside. “It’s locked.” She managed to get out before sinking to her knees. 

“Bella?” Rosalie asked, a bit more frantically. She had never seen Bella have a reaction like this before. “What’s going on?” She asked. Bright orange eyes found hers. 

“He’s here.” Bella groaned, clawing at the buttons on her clothes, stripping out of her vest, followed by her shirt. She sighed in relief as the cool air hit her back. Rosalie gingerly turned Bella’s body so she could get a better look at her, trying to avert her eyes as best as possible from the fact that Bella was now just covered up by her bra. Rosalie growled a little bit herself as the sight of Bella’s mark on her back glowing an angry red, pulsing every few seconds. 

“Who’s here?” Rosalie asked. “What can I do?” The blonde pushed, wanting to be able to do something to help relieve the obvious pain Bella was in. 

“I can’t explain here. It requires answers that I don’t want to tell you in a high school bathroom.” Bella said, flinching in pain as her mark throbbed again. “I had hoped to not subject you to all of this.” She winced again. “But I suppose it was inevitable.” She said with some defeat. 

“Bella, tell me what you need.” Rosalie insisted. Bella struggled to sit up, but Rosalie held her shoulder down. “Don’t overexert yourself.” 

“You need to take me back to the house. Charlie will be able to help.” She said. Rosalie felt a little twinge of jealousy but she pushed it down in favor of knowing that she needed to get Bella help that she couldn’t provide. She only knew the bare minimum about demons that Bella had told her, and she knew that Bella had been holding back a lot. “I trust you.” Bella said, grabbing Rosalie’s forearm, gripping it tightly as her mark pulsed again. Rosalie nodded, gingerly picking Bella up, cradling the demon in her arms, careful not to touch her mark too much. Bella waved her hand again, the door becoming unblocked. Rosalie stuck her head out of the bathroom door cautiously. The hallway was empty so she quickly made her way to an alternative exit that avoided the homecoming dance. Once she was home free into the treeline behind the school, she ran towards Bella’s house, the demon curled up in her arms. 

III. 

Rosalie burst into Bella’s house, making a beeline for the couch, laying Bella delicately on the cushions as she yelled out for Charlie. Bella’s mark still was glowing an angry red, painfully throbbing. Bella struggled to keep her breathing steady, twitching slightly every time her scars pulsed. The mustached man wandered into the living room, taking a short glance at Bella on the couch before turning to a frantic Rosalie. “You did the right thing, bringing her to me.” He said, acknowledging Rosalie’s fear before walking over to Bella, kneeling next to her. 

“He’s in Forks.” Bella said, looking up at Charlie. The man frowned but nodded. 

“There’s nothing we can do with you in this condition.” He replied, Rosalie standing awkwardly in the room, watching the exchange. 

“I know.” She said, her eyes flicking to Rosalie before back to Charlie. The man also looked at the vampire briefly before going back to Bella. 

“You sure this is the right decision?” He asked. Bella nodded, her eyes closed. 

“My powers have been strained to shove this away. I had hoped it would be longer before he found me, but I need to be at full strength.” She said to him. “And she deserves the truth” Charlie nodded, getting up. 

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” He said, looking down at her. Bella chuckled through the obvious pain. 

“Don’t I always?” She teased. Charlie shook his head, but turned to leave the two alone. Before he left, he put a hand on Rosalie’s shoulder. 

“Trust that she did this for you.” He advised her before leaving the room. Rosalie frowned, looking to Bella half curious, half still concerned for Bella’s wellbeing. 

“What did he mean?” She asked. Bella sighed. 

“There’s something else you should know about… us.” Bella said hesitantly. Rosalie raised an eyebrow, moving closer to Bella, bending down next to her. 

“Does it have anything to do with why I react differently to you than my siblings?” She asked, knowing that there were only a handful of things that could fill Bella’s voice with such apprehension. The brunette nodded slowly. 

“It’s because I’m your mate.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have an excuse for why I haven't written anything in nearly 2 months. Just that writer's block is an absolute bitch and a big thanks to all of you for being patient with me. I'm glad that you guys have been finding this interesting. Bella and Rosalie's relationship is.. clearly not conventional and even the idea of vampire mating here isn't exactly the same as in the books given that Rosalie is mated to a demon. Plus Bella has been... difficult I suppose is the word I'm looking for. That said, everything will be out in the open in the near future and we'll get to see Rosalie's reaction to the full truth. I'm not making any promises that it won't be angsty as fuck.


	13. Chapter 13

I.

" _ It's because I'm your mate." _

"What?" Rosalie asked softly, not entirely sure she heard Bella correctly, but the serious look on the demon's face told her that she heard correctly. "But…" Rosalie started but faltered. Even for a vampire's processing power, this was a lot for the blonde.

"That's why your instincts don't go haywire around me," Bella admitted, wincing a little as her back throbbed. "They believe I would never harm you because I'm your mate. So how could I?" Rosalie blinked once, then twice.

"How?" She asked hesitantly. "I don't feel… I don't feel a mating bond with you." Rosalie said. She knew she had some sort of relationship with Bella, but it didn't feel like a mating bond. At least not one that had been described to her by all the mated pairs in her life, which were numerous.

"I thought…" Bella said, hesitating. "It probably doesn't matter what I thought." She said, a little defeated. "Demons don't have mates." She said. "We're not supposed to at least." Rosalie frowned.

"Then how is this," She gestured between the two of them "possible?" She questioned, despite getting the one answer she wanted, it left her with more questions than enlightenment.

"That's… complicated." Bella said, biting her lower lip. Rosalie snarled a little.

"Then explain it to me!" Rosalie hissed. "If I am what you say I am, then you'd think I'd deserve a bit of an explanation." Bella flinched at the harsh tone Rosalie took with her.

"You deserve so much more than that," Bella replied, a little sadly. "I thought I was protecting you." Bella continued, putting a warm hand on Rosalie's forearm. The blonde allowed it for the moment, but she had to admit to herself, she equal parts confused and angry. Confused because she didn't know why she couldn't have just gotten a straightforward mating bond. And angry because Bella seemed to know what was going on. At least she knew more than Rosalie knew. And if Rosalie was to believe Bella, and she had no reason not to, the explanation involved her. And given her history, she didn't like being left at a disadvantage, no matter how small, when it came to matters of the heart.

"You should know that I hate when people make decisions about me, for me," Rosalie said curtly. A part of her hated to behave coldly towards Bella, but she wanted answers. Bella nodded slightly, as much as her position laying on the couch would allow.

"I do. In hindsight, I regret the way I handled things. But at the time, it was for the best." Bella said, struggling to sit up. Rosalie went to gently lay her back down, but Bella stopped her. "I need to do this." She said, throwing her legs over the edge of the couch, her feet planted on the ground. Rosalie scooted to the side, keeping a careful eye on Bella as the demon winced again, her mark pulsating visibly.

"Before I do this, I need you to understand, demons don't have mates," Bella said, looking seriously at Rosalie. "We weren't granted that gift. My kind hardly even know love. Lust, sure. But true love? No. I wanted… I thought that this would be easier for you." Rosalie looked at Bella curiously, though cautious. Bella just shrugged sadly, outstretching her arms, hands palms up. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she inhaled. She exhaled, opening them. Rosalie saw them glowing a bright red, her form flickering between her human form and her demonic one.

Bella began reciting what sounded like a spell, but not in a language that Rosalie recognized. It felt older, primal. Rosalie felt a tugging at her heart as Bella chanted. It was like a plastic film had been placed over it, trapping her emotions within. And as Bella recited her chant, the film was dissolved, leaving her emotions untrapped. Rosalie hissed, her eyes landing on Bella and for the first time, she felt the pull. The longing to claim and mark the demon with her own teeth, erase the demonic scars from her back and replace it with her own scars. Rosalie began breathing heavily, even though she didn't need the air intake. Bella's natural scent didn't help her reactions to the demon.

Bella slowly stopped chanting, the glow fading and her human form stabilizing. Rosalie inched away from her until her back hit the coffee table. "Bella," Rosalie said, her voice quivering. "What did you…?" She trailed off, her question obvious.

"I muted our bond the moment I laid eyes on you," Bella replied, grabbing a shirt that was lying on the couch, pulling it over her head. She seemed to have fully recovered from whatever was affecting her not a few moments prior. She stretched out her shoulders, flexing her hands a few times and rolling her shoulders. "Suppressed it if you'd like." She added.

"Why?" Rosalie asked, her jaw clenched. Her golden eyes glaring at Bella.

"I didn't think you were ready for it," Bella admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

"And that was your choice to make?" Rosalie snarled. Bella raised her hands in surrender.

"I… no, it wasn't. But I didn't know you then. I felt your emotions tying themselves to me when you entered that club. I thought it would be easier to ease you into my world if you didn't have a mating bond pressing at your mind. At least not once fully realized. I couldn't mute it fully, it was still there, just obscured."

"And when you learned more about me, you didn't think to just tell me the truth?" Rosalie questioned, her temper rising. She could understand a demon who wanted to befriend her keeping some things from her. But her own mate?

"Maybe I had hoped that you'd learn to love me on your own," Bella said quietly, so quietly that Rosalie almost didn't hear her. "And then when I told you, it would lessen the blow. You'd understand that I did it for us. You weren't ready to be thrust into my world. In fact, you found out about the whole demon thing sooner than I would have liked as well."

"Were you planning on  _ ever _ telling me?" Rosalie questioned coldly. "Any of it?" Bella flinched a little at the tone.

I…" She hesitated. And that was it for Rosalie. She snarled, getting to her feet.

"I think that makes everything rather clear." She scoffed as she made her way for the door. Bella, in response, shot off the couch, reaching for Rosalie's forearm. The moment her fingers touched Rosalie's skin, the blonde hissed, turning quickly and snarling at Bella. "Don't." She said, her eyes blackening. Bella backed up slowly, not wanting to startle the irate vampire further.

"Rose…" Bella said, genuine regret in her eyes. "I didn't…" She said but Rosalie cut her off.

"Save it, Bella," Rosalie said curtly before opening the door to walk out into the cool night air, slamming the door behind her. Bella was left in her entryway, alone and full of regret.

II.

Rosalie made her way back to the Cullen home. The rest of her siblings were still at the dance, so it was only Esme and Carlisle at home when she arrived. Esme greeted her at the door, but immediately her emotions shifted to concern as she actually laid eyes on Rosalie. "Rose, is everything alright? Did something happen?" She asked. Rosalie shook her head once.

"Everything is just perfect." She said sarcastically. "Please Esme, I'm not the mood tonight." She said. She tried not to take her emotions out on Esme, who had done nothing but love her. Esme, knowing her daughter, knew that Rosalie was not in the state of mind to be bargained with, so she relented, nodding once.

"I'm here if you want to talk about it." She said softly as Rosalie made her way up the stairs to her bedroom. She shut herself in her room, shedding herself of her heels and dress, tossing it carelessly on the floor. She couldn't bear to look at it for the time being. She changed into some more comfortable clothes, before jumping off her balcony, landing gracefully on the ground, running into the forest.

On her way through, she smashed her fist into a few trees before tracking a few deer, slamming into one and tearing it to shreds, taking her chaotic emotions out on the poor animal. She sank her teeth into the deer, draining it in a matter of moments. Rosalie dropped to her knees on the forest floor as soon as she had her fill. She breathed heavily, but slowly.

Despite her anger towards Bella manipulating her emotions, she still felt a draw to the demon. She could feel exactly how far away Bella was from her. Could feel the regret that Bella was experiencing. She almost wanted to run back to the demon's home, gather her up in her arms and forgive her. But another, more dominant part of her brain, couldn't help but feel almost dirty. It wasn't the same as Royce, not by a long shot. If it was, she probably could never imagine ever forgiving Bella. But the demon using magic to hide her mating bond from her hurt. It felt like an invasion of the privacy that she valued so much. And perhaps equally so, Bella lied to her about it.

She could understand hiding the demon thing from a friend. Or even a possible romantic partner. But her relationship to Bella was deeper than that. She had lived her entire vampiric life believing that once she found her mate, she would find something that she could confide everything in. And that they would do the same for her. But if Bella, a demon who did not mate, was hers, did any of it matter? Was this a relationship that Bella could just hold over her head for the rest of her life? She wanted to believe Bella wouldn't do that to her, but she wasn't sure of anything anymore.

Rosalie was so in her head, that she didn't hear another set of footsteps approaching and putting a hand carefully and softly on her shoulder. Her head snapped up and she snarled at the individual. Emmett recoiled quickly, putting his hands up where she could see them. "Hey, it's just me." Rosalie calmed down immediately, letting out a small laugh of disbelief.

"Esme or Alice?" She asked as he helped her to her feet.

"Esme. She called. She's concerned about you. She said you came home rather upset and then just took off. And then she heard trees coming down." Emmett teased before trying to be serious. "What happened? You seemed to be having a good time with Bella at the dance before I lost track of you." He asked. Rosalie shook her head.

"It's a long story." She said, rubbing her left forearm with her right hand. Emmett shrugged.

"We have time. If you want to share, that is." He added. Rosalie hesitated. But sighed.

"Bella is my mate." She said, the words falling from her tongue felt foreign. Yet they felt right. Like the admission would will it into the world. Emmett grinned.

"That's great, Rose!" He exclaimed, going in for a hug, but Rosalie put a hand on his chest to stop him. "What?" He asked.

"There's more." She said, taking a breath. "What I'm about to say stays between us, you understand? Not even Edward. In fact, especially not Edward," She said, deadly serious. Emmett recognized the tone, one Rosalie used when she expected him to keep her secrets or suffer a punishment worse than death. Emmett nodded, crossing his heart.

"Eddie will be kept in the dark, promise." He said, guiding Rosalie to sit on a fallen log, sitting next to her, keeping his hands to himself. Rosalie looked like she needed her space.

"She's a demon," Rosalie said. Emmett frowned.

"Like hellspawn, red skin, forked tail kind of thing?" He asked, a little skeptical.

"Something like that," Rosalie mumbled. Emmett just shrugged. He wasn't in a place to question her. And he figured if vampires and werewolves existed, there had to be others out there.

"So what's the problem? You've never been particularly religious since you were turned." He asked.

"She…" Rosalie paused. "She used her powers to hide the bond from me. Messed with my emotions and my head. And then lied about it." Rosalie said, letting out an accompanying growl. Emmett grimaced, knowing how much Rosalie hated both of those things. The lying and the invasion of privacy. Both she regarded highly in her life, almost sacred.

"And now you're trying to fight your bond and took it out on some trees?" He asked. Rosalie grunted.

"I suppose. I mean, my mind keeps jumping back and forth. On the one hand, maybe I overreacted. If I had learned all of this when I first met her, who knows what I would have done. Maybe she was right and I wasn't ready. But…" She said before Emmett stopped her by grabbing her hand.

"No. Maybe you wouldn't have been ready then. But you're not wrong for feeling the way you do. Given what happened to you, I'm surprised you didn't rip her limb from limb." He joked. Rosalie chuckled. "There's a smile!" Emmett said gleefully. Rosalie rolled her eyes, but the smile remained intact.

"I wouldn't have stood a chance against her. I'd be ash on the floor before I even landed a punch." Rosalie said. Emmett tilted his head to the side.

"She's that strong?' He asked and she nodded. "Well, she would be fun to spar." He thought out loud before looking sheepishly at her, silently apologizing. Rosalie just shrugged.

"It's okay. You're probably right." She said. "I just… I wish I knew what to do. I can't stand to look at her right now, but a part of me still longs to run back to her, right now." She said. Emmett nodded.

"I can't imagine what that's like, but I do know you. And I know you'll make the right choice for  _ you _ . And that's what matters." He reassured her. Rosalie looked to the side at him.

"You know, sometimes you're smarter than you look." She teased. Emmett looked mock offended.

"Hey!" He exclaimed as Rosalie got to her feet, offering him her hand.

"Fancy going to find some bears and take the weekend to see who can down more?" Rosalie asked, a playful glint in her eyes. Emmett met her gaze with an enthusiastic nod, taking her hand and getting to his feet.

"Race you." He said before speeding off. Rosalie just chuckled before bolting after him.

III.

Bella sat on the couch, her face buried in her hands. How had she not seen that coming? She knew that Rosalie would see what she did a major betrayal. But how could she have done anything differently? All her age, experience and powers couldn't have prepared her for the aching in her heart.

She felt Charlie sit down next to her. "She'll forgive you. But you have to work for it. You've been keeping things from her for too long." He said. Bella sighed.

"I've lived so long in the shadows. Pulling the strings. Whispering in ears. I don't even know where to start. And if she'll even listen to me anymore. What if I ruined what could have been?" She asked, uncharacteristically unsure of herself.

"Never thought I'd see the day when I'd be giving  _ you _ advice but matters of the heart are my expertise. I promise you'll regret it if you don't do everything in your vast power to make it up to her. If you truly care for her. Which is another thing I never thought I'd see."

"Where do I even start? My life spans the entirety of known and unknown history."

"I'd start with your true name."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... 
> 
> I don't like drawing angst out for too long, but I felt this was appropriate. I feel like there's so much emphasis in the books/movies of how a mating bond is different from a friendship and even a normal relationship. And where Rosalie could... overlook some things when she thought her and Bella were friends, possibly love interests, but she couldn't, knowing they're mates. 
> 
> Hopefully that explained a few more things, perhaps sparked a few more questions. Oh how I enjoy answering 1 question and creating 2 more.


	14. Chapter 14

I.

Rosalie wrestled the grizzly bear to the ground, sinking her teeth into the animal when it was subdued. She could have easily just dug in when she first made contact with it, but she and Emmett made this trip about the sport, more than _just_  feeding. Once she had her fill, she dropped the carcass, turning to Emmett who was standing a few yards back, leaning against a tree. He gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up. Rosalie rolled her eyes but smiled regardless.

"I believe I am now three ahead of you." She teased. Emmett pouted slightly, folding his arms over his chest.

"You've just been lucky." He grouched. Rosalie chuckled.

"If that helps you feel better." She replied. The two had been away from Forks for a couple of days and Rosalie was calming down from her anger spike regarding Bella. She and Emmett had spoken about it a handful of times during their hunting trip, but mostly she wanted to get away from all of it, just for a little while. She knew she'd have to go back and face the music, but she needed some time to think.

In retrospect, she may have overreacted, but she wasn't going to dwell on it and wallow in regret like a certain brother of hers was prone to doing. It wasn't really the fact that she was mated to a demon. That, she could work with. She already liked Bella, in her heart, she'd been leaning towards something more than just friendship for a while. But it was the lies. And the invasion of what she deemed her personal space. It may not have been a physical invasion, but Bella had messed with one of the most important and sacred things to a vampire; their mating bond.

Every so often, Charlie's words came back to her.

_Trust that she did this for you._

She also took that into account in her thoughts. Bella had tried to explain, but Rosalie only registered the fact that Bella had lied about their mating bond and used her powers to hide it from the vampire. Her mind hadn't been in a place to consider that Bella might have had a good reason for doing so. Vampires were instinctual creatures and Rosalie was no different. She prided herself on her control, especially when it came to human blood, as well as having tight control over her emotions most of the time. But this revelation, it was a lot to stomach. 

And after Bella had been… injured for lack of a better word, her mask had cracked. And Bella's admission and release of their mating bond had shattered it.

"Thinking about her again?" Emmett asked. Rosalie turned to her brother, nodding slowly. "You should at least hear her out." He continued.

"You think?" Rosalie asked. And he nodded.

"I know how much your privacy and personal space matters to you. And your trust. And that's not wrong of you to be that way. But shouldn't you at least sit down and talk to her? Instead of running away. I know how the bond is pulling at you. And how much you've waited for your mate. Bella thought she was doing was right. Maybe it wasn't, but she didn't do what she did with ill intent. Not like…" He trailed off, not willing to let Royce's name pass through his lips. Rosalie swallowed but nodded.

"You're right." She admitted. "A part of me wants to run back right now. Forgive her. Claim her. But I just… can't. It feels like there's a barrier there, restraining me, boxing me in." Rosalie said.

"You suffered a trauma as a human. That's not an insignificant thing." Emmett said. Rosalie winced a little at the topic but nodded slightly. "Instincts are powerful. You and I both know that. Your vampire side wants you to claim your mate. Your self-preservation wants to keep you safe. Those two things aren't meshing. And it's going to split you in two until you reconcile them." Emmett said in a moment of seriousness and insight. Rosalie, despite knowing her brother for his entire supernatural life, was always slightly surprised at how wise Emmett could be. He was a goofball most of the time, but this was a side of him that only a select few people got to see. And Rosalie was one of them.

Rosalie nodded, making her decision. "We should go back. I need to see her." The blonde said. Emmett grinned.

"Last one back has to do homework for a month," Emmett said, laughing as he took off. Rosalie shook her head, amused, but took off after him.

II.

Rosalie and Emmett returned home, Rosalie slightly ahead of Emmett, beating him to the door. The male groaned as he caught up with her. She chuckled. "Homework duty is all yours." She said, heading inside. Jasper looked up from the couch, making eye contact with Rosalie. The two siblings stared at each other for a moment before Jasper nodded at her, going back to his history book.

Suddenly, there was a small, pixie-like vampire wrapped around her. "Alice," Rosalie said.

"I'm glad you're back!" Her sister said, releasing Rosalie after a moment. "How'd…" Alice started before stopping herself. Rosalie sighed.

"I'm going to talk to her later," Rosalie replied to the unasked question.

"For what it's worth, I think you should give her the benefit of the doubt, with whatever happened. Whatever made you run off." Alice said. Rosalie frowned. Emmett was still the only one who knew the details since Bella's powers would shield them from Alice and Edward's powers. But they all knew  _something_  had happened.

"You don't even like her." The blonde said quietly, though she knew everyone could hear her anyway. Alice shrugged.

"She makes you happy, that's enough for all of us." She said, looking around, the rest of the family nodding in agreement. Rosalie sighed.

"I will take it into consideration." She said, somewhat reluctantly, her desire to keep her anger towards Bella strong. But she felt it melting away, especially now that she knew she was closer to Bella than she had been for a while.

"That's all I ask," Alice said with a small smile.

Rosalie gave Esme and Carlisle a hug before going upstairs to her room. Edward had been absent from her and Emmett's return, but she really didn't care. She grabbed her phone from her nightstand, seeing a few missed text messages and a voice mail that could have only come from one person. She drew in an unnecessary breath before heading out to her balcony.

She unlocked her phone, checking the messages from Bella.

_I know I screwed up. But please believe that it was not my intention to violate your trust._

_I thought I was doing the thing that was best for you. I don't have the power of future sight. I had no idea that my meddling would be so hurtful._

_Call me when you return, please._

Rosalie's eyes scanned the three texts once. Then twice. Then a third time. Then she sighed before checking the voicemail that Bella had left. Rosalie's breath hitched with longing as she heard Bella's voice for the first time in a couple of days.

_Rosalie, I know you're… away. And that it's because of me. And honestly, I don't blame you. I dumped a lot on you at once, but my actions were necessary at the time. You were right, I don't know if I ever had any intention of telling you that I was a demon or that I was your mate. Most don't understand demons and hate us on principle. And if you hadn't discovered it yourself, I don't know what I would have done._

_I've been alone for so long. Lived in the shadows. I'm not used to feeling emotion for others. Caring for another. All of this is new for me too. But I know now that you deserve more than lies and half-truths. And I want to help you understand. So you can make a choice. You deserve that._

_When you return, call me or seek me out. I know you know where to find me._

The message ended there with a click. Rosalie stared at her phone for a minute, Bella's number in her recent call list. The blonde had a choice to make. And there was really only one real answer.

Before she had the chance to leap from her balcony, there was a knock at the door. Rosalie rolled her eyes, knowing who was on the other side. "Come in." She called and Edward opened the door slowly, slinking into the room.

"You're back." He said simply. Rosalie nodded in return, shielding her thoughts from her brother.

"I am." She said curtly, not really in the mood for an altercation with Edward.

"Have you finally come to your senses about her?" Edward asked, cutting straight to the chase. Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"It's still really not any of your business." She said coldly. Edward flinched a little at the tone.

"I'm trying to look out for _our_  family, Rosalie. I thought you did once as well. She's dangerous. You and I both know it. No matter how much you try to hide it. Or deny it." He said. She growled a little. She might be fighting with Bella, but the demon was still her mate.

"You're still bent out of shape over a human?" Rosalie bluffed. Edward narrowed his eyes.

"And you're still blinded to the fact she is not human. There's no way a human can do the things she does." He insisted. Rosalie narrowed her gaze.

"She's not a vampire, nor a shifter. Nor a Child of the Moon. What else could she be?" Rosalie asked. Edward shrugged.

"You can't believe that we're the only supernatural creatures in this world?" He countered.

"We don't have any proof of anything regardless, Edward. We, including yourself, will do nothing to expose this family. Lest you put us in danger  _yourself_." She hissed. Edward recoiled a little.

"If you insist on being blind, don't come crying to me when this blows up in your face and you see that I'm right." He said arrogantly before stalking out of her room. Rosalie let out a growl at his retreating form. She huffed before pocketing her phone, leaping over the balcony and running off into the forest.

III.

Rosalie followed the tugging at her heartstrings into the forest, coming upon the same clearing that she seen the large black goat. And again, it was sitting there in the middle of the clearing, looking contemplative somehow. "Bella?" Rosalie asked quietly, hesitantly. Her heart was tugging towards the animal as she slowly approached.

The black goat turned and Rosalie stared into the black pits it had for eyes before bright orange eyes emerged as the goat shifted into a familiar form. "It was you, all this time," Rosalie said. Bella nodded.

"I've never been far from you. At least, until you expressed a desire for space, which I respect. I'm glad you found me, but please don't feel like you need to until you're ready." Bella said slowly, getting up from the ground. Rosalie shook her head.

"I want answers, Bella. I have yet to decide what will happen next. But please, just give me a straight answer for once." She implored. Bella nodded.

"What do you want to know?"

"Why me?" Rosalie asked hesitantly, not entirely sure she wanted the answer.

Bella sighed, sitting back down on the grass, patting the ground next to her. Rosalie sat next to her but kept her guard up, ready to get up at a moment's notice. "Demons don't have human forms. Not really." Bella started. "We have our demonic forms, and some can shapeshift, but we are largely confined to Hell. Some of the more powerful demons can exist on Earth for short periods of time, but in order to reside here for longer, we need human hosts." Bella said.

"So…." Rosalie trailed off, eyeing Bella's body.

"Yes, this body is a human host," Bella replied. "I didn't… take it by force if that's what you're concerned about." Rosalie relaxed her jaw that she hadn't realized she had clenched until she let it go. She knew in the back of her mind that demons did things like this all the time, but it hadn't really registered that Bella likely did as well. "But this body, this human, was likely to be your mate, but my… presence here may have thrown that off."

"So you're not even my mate? Just the human body that you are inhabiting?" Rosalie asked, somewhere between disgust and curiosity.

"I… Technically yes. But for this, I am Bella. Her instincts, emotions, I'm affected by all of those. You're not the only one that feels the pull." She admitted. "Residing in a singular human for too long subjects the demon to the bindings of humanity. It's why most demons hop from body to body, rather frequently." Rosalie blinked. She opened her mouth but was cut off. "Before you continue, I want to say I'm sorry." She said. This was what surprised Rosalie. Apologies were not something she had come to expect from Bella. At least not without a sarcastic undertone. But she was being deadly serious. "I didn't know. That this would affect you in the way it did. And honestly, I don't know if I would have done things differently on our first meeting."

"Seriously?" Rosalie asked. Bella shrugged.

"I'm still not sold on the idea that being mated to a demon in a human's body is the best thing for you. I was,  _am_ , open to the idea of seeing where this goes, but my life is very complicated. And I don't want to drag you into that unless you deem this worth it."

"You know as well as I do that the moment we met, that my opinion on the matter was gone," Rosalie said coldly. But Bella shook her head.

"It's not. I told you that you had a choice. Ask any questions you want, I will give you the answers. But if you decide that this," Bella said, gesturing between them, "isn't worth it, I can break our bond. Give you the opportunity to mate on another. Someone hopefully less complicated than I am."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So its World Cup season and that's my excuse. Might not be a good one, but that's that. Anyway, dunno when I'll update next. I'd like to do it in a week or two, but no promises.


	15. Chapter 15

I.

Rosalie was rather taken aback by Bella's words. She had the power to break mate bonds? That didn't sit well with Rosalie at all.

"You think, after all of this, that is what I'd want?" Rosalie hissed. Bella held her hands up in surrender.

"I don't know what to think anymore, to be perfectly honest. I just wanted to give you the choice. It doesn't mean I would force it on you. I know that much." She said. Rosalie took a breath, willing herself to calm down from her spike of anger.

"Is that what _you_ want?" Rosalie asked, a little bitterly. Bella shook her head.

"No. Despite what you might think, I do like you Rosalie, and not just because I'm subjected to the trappings of humanity. You are an exquisite individual." She answered. "In another life, I'd have to fight off my siblings for you. But as it is, most of them are busy with other endeavors to care what I do. Some probably think I've disappeared forever." Rosalie frowned.

"Is that possible for a demon?" She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Technically yes. Demons can't die, we're mostly fallen angels after all. But we live off of human souls. And if a demon stops collecting, they may wither away into nothing more than a shadow. Not capable of real consciousness, but still technically alive." Bella clarified.

"So you…" Rosalie trailed off. Bella shrugged.

"It is the way of the demon. There's nothing I can do about the price to survive. Vampires consume the blood of humans to survive, nothing is fundamentally different."

" _We_ don't." Rosalie pointed out. "And collecting their souls, doesn't that condemn humans to hell? Everlasting torture and all of that?" Bella just laughed.

"You have a point on the first one, though I'd argue animal blood, while sustaining, doesn't allow you to reach your full potential. But to each their own." Bella started, glancing at Rosalie. "Secondly, some demons do sneaky deals and use manipulation to capture human souls. And even if I wanted to, there's nothing I can do to stop that. No more than you can stop all vampires from feeding off of humans. I do try to be a bit more ethical about it these days. Or at least as ethical as you can be when you're damming a soul to hell."

"Such as?" Rosalie asked, a little skeptically.

"Many humans over the millennia have called my name specifically. Most don't know what they are invoking and I give them the chance to change their mind, like I've given you that choice." Bella said. "Many, however, choose to follow the path they've blazed and willingly hand over their soul for my help. I simply accept their deal, grant them power and when they inevitably die, their soul is mine for the taking."

"That's what's considered ethical?" Rosalie pressed. Bella sighed.

"In a world where demons actively prey on humans, possess them against their will, trick them into deals where they trade everything for fundamentally nothing; yes, it is. This body was willingly traded for a rather large favor. I always fulfill deals I choose to accept to the fullest. I give humans a real choice, not just the illusion of choice. I cannot help what I am, Rosalie. No more than you can help what you are."

Rosalie blinked. That wasn't the answer she expected. On some level, she understood. Like her, Bella was living with the hand she was given. The will to survive was a strong instinct and Rosalie couldn't fault Bella for not wanting to just give up and wither away. She found a way to sustain herself, but attempt to do as little damage to humanity as possible. Not something she'd expect from any demon. But she was learning that demons were more complicated than theology would lead anyone to believe.

"And what do you want from me?" Rosalie asked, a little timidly. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.

" _From_ you? Nothing. I want you to be happy with your choices. I still stand by what I did, I still believe that was for the best. But I also realize that I took that choice away from you, and I have lived for a long time, never wanting to take someone's choice from them. Perhaps choice is anathema to a demon, given our origin story, particularly my own. But perhaps that is one place where God was right." Bella said slowly. "So I'm offering you that choice. Nothing more, nothing less. Our future is in your hands."

"But what do you _want_?" Rosalie asked again, a little more assertively. Bella raised an eyebrow.

"I will admit, the mating bond pulls at me as much as it pulls at you. Especially now that I released it. I feel your emotions. Feel the conflict in your heart. And I feel a strange sense of pain knowing that I caused it. These emotions are foreign to a demon. We don't experience love, not normally. But already, I feel my heart pulling towards you. I want to remain in your life. But will leave if you choose." Bella said. Rosalie was a little surprised at the admission. She expected Bella to sidestep the question, not answer it head on.

"And if I'm not sure what I want?" Rosalie asked. Bella shrugged.

"I will wait for your answer, for as long as it takes."

II.

Rosalie and Bella went their separate ways shortly after, giving Rosalie some time to think about Bella's offer.

She was conflicted.

On the one hand, being mated to a demon did scare Rosalie. What it meant for the future. Could she even trust what Bella was telling her? Demons were notorious for manipulating and twisting their words to get others to do what they wanted. She knew that _she_ felt the mating bond towards Bella, but did it truly work both ways? And if the demon inside the vessel left the shell, where would that leave her?

But on the other hand, assuming Bella was being truthful, she didn't want to break their mating bond. She genuinely liked Bella. She could even envision a world where she fell for the demon organically, without all the supernatural interference.

As she returned home, she was immediately met with Emmett, giving her a questioning look. Rosalie rolled her eyes. "It was fine." She said, keeping her words vague since the rest of the family was listening in as well. Emmett nodded, throwing an arm around Rosalie's shoulders. The blonde vampire tensed reflexively but relaxed immediately after.

"Well, if you ever need any of my wisdom, let me know." He teased. Rosalie chuckled, ducking out from under Emmett's arm.

"I'll keep that in mind, Mr. Fountain of Wisdom." She retorted before heading into the garage, shutting the door behind her. A rather obvious signal that she wanted to be left alone for a while.

She leaned up against the door, running a hand through her hair, a new habit from the last day or two. She wandered over to her BMW, popping the hood, propping it up as she peered into the belly of her baby.

There was a knock at the garage door. Rosalie growled to herself, rolling her eyes. "What is it Alice?" She asked as her sister opened the door cautiously. Alice stepped into the garage, shutting the door behind her.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Rosalie sighed, lifting her head slightly, but her back still turned toward Alice.

"I'm fine." She deflected. She could almost picture Alice's skeptical look.

"You don't seem fine. What happened?" She asked again.

"We talked." Rosalie said curtly. Alice's shouldered sagged a little.

"Rose, whatever is going on between you two, I promise you, the mating bond is worth it. Carlisle, Esme and Jasper would all tell you the same, I'm sure. You've found your mate. She's worth it." Alice said passionately before leaving Rosalie alone with her thoughts.

Alice's words resounded in her head. _The mating bond is worth it_.

III.

Bella flopped onto the couch after Rosalie ran off. She let out a sigh. She didn't know what else she could do but wait. She didn't want to force Rosalie into a choice, but Bella also wanted an answer soon so she could plan.

A body sat at the end of the couch, near her feet. "That went well." He said. Bella rolled her eyes.

"I'm really not in the mood, Modi." She retorted.

"You really don't have the luxury of time here." He replied calmly.

"I know that." She snapped, before signing. "Sorry. I'm just… frustrated." She said.

"You know you could just leave that body and be done with all of this, right? It's not like there's realistic limits on your powers now. At least for one off things like this." He said.

"I know, I know. But…" She trailed off.

"You want this." He finished, a statement, not a question. Bella shrugged, putting her face in her hands.

"I don't know. I just… I'm not used to these feelings." She admitted.

"I can't say I can relate. I've not been with this body as long as you've been with that one. But I do know matters of the heart. Humans, and by extension vampires, always think love is the way. It's the answer." The demon next to her said. "But that's only if both are willing to fight for it. To use it in the way that it was meant to be used. Most don't. You know our siblings use that as a weakness. Do you think you can fight for it? And can she?" He asked. Bella shrugged.

"I just don't know. I want to, but it's not in my nature. Even now, I keep my secrets from her."

"Then tell her."

"You know I can't do that." She replied.

"Do you not trust her?" Modi asked.

"It's not that. Even if I told her, she wouldn't use it against me. It's the way of mating bonds. But she's vulnerable. Mentally. And it would be a drain on my energy to protect her constantly." She justified. Modi rolled his eyes.

"You know as well as I do that completing the mating bond would solve that problem." He huffed.

"Perhaps, but if I do that while keeping my story from her, she'll never forgive me for that." She replied.

"Look who grew a conscious." Modi mocked. Bella just rolled her eyes.

"Let's just say, this is more complicated than I would like."

"What is there to be complicated? Either you tell her, complete the bond and be done with it. Or you never tell her, break the bond, leave that body and move on. It seems pretty simple to me." He pressed.

"Or, I wait for her answer, respect her decision and move from there." She countered.

"How can she make that decision, in so called good faith as you're such a fan of nowadays, without knowing the whole story. About what she's really getting into. Not to mention, you've got another problem on your tail right now. She's walking into all of that blind. And you're letting her."

Bella huffed. "Fine. You're right. Forgive me for wanting to be protective of the one thing that has real power over me."

"If you walk into this, you're going to have to tell her at some point. Look, just talk to her some more. Maybe you don't tell her everything. Maybe you don't give her your full name. But if you're serious about this, you can't let her get wrapped up in our world without knowing what she'll be committing to."

IV.

Rosalie looked up at the night sky from her balcony, her mind preoccupied with her thoughts. Edward and Jasper were out hunting so she allowed her thoughts to wander more freely. She needed to know if Bella was telling her the truth. And she didn't know if she could trust the demon.

Trust was already a difficult thing for Rosalie, but knowing that her mating bond and even friendship with her was steeped in lies and deceit, she didn't know what to think anymore. Her heart tugged at her to let go. To just give in. But her head was far more hesitant. She wanted all her questions answered before she crumbled. She knew it was probably inevitable unless she accepted Bella's offer. And soon.

Rosalie sighed, about to jump from her balcony to the ground below before her phone buzzed. She frowned, pulling it from her pocket and unlocking it. A message from Bella waiting from her.

 _We need to talk. There's something else I need to tell you before you make your decision_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had a really hard time with this section. It's mostly a pacing thing. I know the trajectory of the story, it's mostly just how quickly do I want to go there. That said, I think I have half an idea at this point, and hopefully it'll be okay for most of you. That said, those of you who have criticisms of how I've written this, I hear you. I get the concerns. At the end of the day, my writing will never make everyone who reads it happy. And if you disagree with how I decide to pace all of this, you're not going to hurt my feelings if you stop reading. Fanfiction should be fun not a chore.
> 
> I will say that the next chapter is going to have a lot of demon lore and Bella's personal demonic story in it that is largely based on my own imagination and the small snippets I have of the demon she's based on. There isn't a ton, which actually makes my job a bit easier because there's more freedom to make things up. A lot of the demonic stuff is based on the movie called The Rite as well as a couple other demonic based horror movies, as most of them have pretty consistent themes.


	16. Chapter 16

I.

Rosalie followed the tugging at her heart to Bella's house where she knew the demon was waiting for her. Rosalie almost laughed as she imagined herself walking willingly into a demon's lair. It was the stuff that horror movies were created from. Though she supposed that vampires were often the subject of said horror movies as well.

She reached the front door, about to knock before the door opened on its own. Rosalie took this an invitation, walking into the entryway, shutting the door behind her. She scented Bella's smokey campfire scent to the living room where she had brought Bella only a few days ago. It felt like far longer to her, but in reality, the homecoming dance had barely passed. She had missed a couple days of school, though her siblings brought her makeup work, which she promptly dumped on Emmett per their bet. And it had only been two days since she had last seen Bella, but those days felt like a century.

"You came." Bella said, getting up from the couch. Rosalie nodded.

"It sounded rather urgent." She said awkwardly. Bella fidgeted a little, but nodded.

"It is. Please, sit." She said gesturing at the chair next to the couch. Rosalie sat as requested, Bella sitting on the couch close to where Rosalie was sitting. "How have you been?" Bella asked to start, rubbing the back of her neck.

"I…" Rosalie started but paused. "It's been hard." She said honestly. Bella nodded.

"Well, I won't skirt around the topic. I know how much you hate that." She joked weakly. Rosalie snorted a bit. "There was something else I meant to tell you when we last spoke but I… chickened out." She admitted. Rosalie raised an eyebrow.

"You?" She asked skeptically. That wasn't a normal emotion the typically confident and cocky demon showed to anyone, even her. But Bella nodded.

"My… Charlie had to knock some sense into me." She said with a slight chuckle. "Imagine, he's the one to give me advice about love." She said, like she was sharing a private joke with herself. "Anyway, I know you've wanted more from me, information at least. And how can I expect you to make this choice without knowing who I am." She said. Rosalie looked surprised. Bella had always been very protective and secretive about her name and identity.

"You're actually going to tell me?" She asked, trying to process the very idea. Bella nodded.

"I told you once that I would tell you. And I am a demon of my word." She said taking a breath. "Before we start, please let me tell you the whole story before you ask questions." She pled. Rosalie nodded in agreement, settling into her chair.

"You remember the demon hierarchy I showed you?" Bella questioned. Rosalie recalled the tree that Bella had drawn for her and nodded. "Good. You've already worked out that I was a high ranked demon, but the missing piece is that while I'm a high ranked demon, I'm also the forgotten one." Rosalie frowned, waiting for Bella to continue. "I'm the reason that demons exist at all. My demonic name is Belial and I was the one who convinced my brother Lucifer to rebel."

Rosalie blinked, not sure what to do with the information. A million questions flying through her head, the slight nod of Bella's head was a signal to ask those questions. "How?" She voiced the first word that came to her mind.

"Back then Lucifer was one of the most beloved angels of God. He was one of the most powerful and even most loyal, though I'm sure that's difficult to believe now. I simply… planted the seed. The idea that he was equal to God. And that he had the power to rebel and create humanity in a way he saw fit. You obviously know how that went for him. And the rest of us by extension." Bella said.

"Why remove yourself from the demonic hierarchy then? If I remember correctly, you're a crown prince, one of the four. Why leave all that power behind? For… this?" She said, gesturing around them. Bella chuckled.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand." She said. Rosalie was about to protest, but Bella stopped her. "I don't mean that in a negative way. Simply that unless you've lived the life I have, that it's impossible for anyone to understand my reasoning. And even then, not everyone does. My brother Lucifer, he expected all demons to recognize him as the king of the fallen. I simply refused. He obviously took issue with that."

"So this is retaliation?" Rosalie questioned. Bella gave a so-so gesture with her hand.

"Somewhat. He was not powerful enough to directly challenge me, to force me to bend to his will. Despite being the most powerful in terms of raw power, he paled in comparison to my intellect and my own demonic energy was enough to _withstand_ his. I was second only to him in raw power. I outstriped him in other ways. Like many in power, he feared me as if I chose to, I could've challenged him for the throne of Hell. So he forced me out of Hell, the seat of our power, to weaken me. He's done all he can to erase me from history. Hence why most religions credit him with the rebellion. But there are always whispers among those that believe in demons of my name." Bella said.

"If you were so powerful, why not challenge God yourself?" Rosalie asked. Bella sighed.

"It's not my style. I once thrived on inciting chaos, not directly causing it. Perhaps I could have taken the role Lucifer did. But whispering in his ear to do my bidding, that seemed so much more appealing at the time." Bella clarified. "That said, I can't help but feel a bit guilty that we're all in this situation because of me." She added. "Many don't remember the time before, immersed in Hell and at the behest of Lucifer's will as they are. But I do. Those times weren't perfect, but they were better than this." Rosalie took in the information Bella was feeding her. "We weren't always evil. We were angels once too."

"Why tell me this now?" She questioned. "You've always been so cagey about your identity." Bella shrugged.

"Like I said before, I don't like tricking people into making decisions anymore. See where it's landed me? Also, it should help alleviate your fears about deciding if you should trust what I'm saying or not." She said with a knowing look. Rosalie was about to protest but Bella preempted her objections. "I'm not saying you're not justified. I'm a demon of lies. I always have been. It's in my nature. I can fight it as much as I want, but ultimately, it'll always be a part of me."

"I just... " Rosalie paused. "It's a lot to take in." She admitted. Bella nodded.

"You see why I didn't want to dump everything on you when we first met?" Bella asked. Rosalie, despite her prior anger towards the situation, nodded.

"Yes, though I wish things had turned out differently." Rosalie said, getting up from her seat, wandering over to the window, looking outside, her back to Bella. The demon got up, joining Rosalie at the window.

"Trust me, this was not part of my plan in life." Bella joked but took a sober tone immediately after. "I wasn't lying when I said I thought you are an exquisite individual, Rosalie. I mean that. We all have our scars, mental, physical, or otherwise. I don't know what happened to you, but I know it still weighs heavily on your soul." Bella said. Rosalie glanced at Bella. "I can feel it." Bella said quietly. Rosalie chuckled softly, looking back outside.

"I was engaged once. As a human." She said. "Royce King II." Bella inhumanly snarled at the name, to Rosalie's surprise. But she continued with her story. "He was everything someone like me could have wanted. I was a little… shallow back then." She said with a bitter laugh. Bella kept silent next to her. She already knew the next part of the story, given who Rosalie said it involved. But she wanted to let the vampire tell her story. "It was right before the wedding. I had just finished meeting with my friend Vera and her child. Royce was with some friends, drunk." Rosalie shivered.

"He called me over. I complied, we were engaged after all, I thought I could trust him, but I as I got closer, I immediately could tell there was something off. He and his friends…" Rosalie trailed off, the words caught in her throat. "Well, they left me there, bleeding on the ground, Royce's friends joking that he would have to find a new bride." Rosalie said, anger lacing her voice. "I was ready to die right there, to be honest. But Carlisle found me and well… The rest is history." She said.

Rosalie chanced another look at Bella who she could see was rather angry, yet not very surprised by the story. Her orange eyes were glowing slightly. "This doesn't surprise you." Rosalie said, rather than questioned. Bella's eyes returned to normal, shaking her head.

"I may not be in the loop anymore, but I still know the names of every damned soul that have ever graced the gates of Hell. Royce is not unfamiliar to me." She growled. "It's a small comfort, but he will suffer in Hell for the rest of eternity." Bella assured Rosalie. The blonde vampire nodded once, rubbing her forearm a little awkwardly. Telling Bella about her story, or at least a part of it, seemed to lift a weight off her shoulders.

II.

"Why tell me your identity _now_?" Rosalie asked quietly.

"Because it's not a real choice unless you know what you're getting into."

"You didn't seem to care before." Rosalie accused and Bella winced a little. "Why should I trust you now?"

"Before... " Bella trailed off and paused slightly. "I didn't know you. I didn't know if you'd eventually want this. I thought that if I could mask it, you'd never find out. You'd never find out that I'm a demon. But demons are selfish creatures. I couldn't help getting to know you. And I found myself wanting you more and more." She admitted. "You're right, I never intended to tell you all of this. I expected to break our bond before you even discovered it and you'd be free to develop a mating bond on someone else. Someone more suited for you. But I'm telling you now. And if you can't find it in you to trust me, perhaps it would be better for both of us to part ways here and now." She said seriously.

"I…" Rosalie started, but stopped. She really had no response to that. Bella was right. The demon had broken her trust more than she would normally forgive. And could she find it in herself to forgive and move forward? And if she couldn't, it would be easier for everyone to shatter their bond.

"And, demons, like vampires, also have a strong sense of self preservation. You can't tell me you immediately trusted _me_ when we first met." Bella added and Rosalie couldn't dispute it.

"You trust me with all of this?" The vampire asked, ignoring Bella's question, glancing at the demon, who shrugged.

"I can shield your mind in a more permanent way until you make your decision. It'll be taxing, but it'll have been worth it. Especially now that my energy is a bit more freed up from unmaking our mating bond. This compared to that will be a walk in the park. Beyond that, simply my name isn't of any use to anyone. I've been protective over it because anyone knowing would be complicated, for a few reasons, but it's not inherently dangerous to me unless they know the full set and order of titles, which no one but I know. And that, I can't tell you unless you decide to complete the mating bond with me. From there, some of my self protection powers will likely transfer to you. The mental shield being the most important in your situation."

"So you're saying Edward wouldn't be able to hear me?" Rosalie asked. Bella shook her head.

"Nor Jasper sense or manipulate your emotions. Or Alice be able to see you." Bella confirmed. Rosalie raised an eyebrow. She had to admit, that alone was appealing. And Bella, or was it Belial, telling her the demon's backstory, Rosalie, despite the lies and half truths, believed Bella, with this at least. The demon was always cagey and evasive about questions regarding her heritage and identity. But this time, she had been very forthcoming, answering Rosalie's questions without hesitation.

"I can't say you're what I expected out of a demon." Rosalie said. Bella laughed.

"Trust me, I'm not the norm. My time spent away from Hell, the scorn of Lucifer causes many of the others to ignore my existence. I seem different from the way demons are portrayed in religious texts because I am different. Some of my siblings, they're eager and willing to damn souls to Hell, possess humans for sport, care nothing for anyone but themselves. In the early days I was like that too, for a few centuries after we fell. But the more time I spent on Earth, and the more time I spent with human hosts, I can see humans beyond a source of energy and entertainment. I've been away from the influence of Lucifer as well as Hell for too long." Bella explained. "I'm not going to say I'm a benevolent being, I'm far from. I still send souls to Hell, still exercise my powers, I'm still a demon at heart, but if you had to be mated to one, be glad it's me."

"And you expect me to believe you freely?" Rosalie questioned. Not out of hostility, but still a little wary of Bella, despite the desire to openly believe her. The demon shrugged.

"No. I don't expect it. But I hope that you do. I may have kept some of the information from you, for what I felt was your own good, but I'm telling you now. Before you make your decision. Which leads me to another thing." She said, pausing briefly as Rosalie nodded for her to continue. "As demons are real, I'm sure you could suss out that angels are also real. And one is in Forks." Rosalie frowned. It wasn't that she didn't believe that part of the story, how could she?

"But…" Rosalie trailed off, knowing there was more to it.

"Each of the major demons have an opposing angel. Uriel has pursued me for the millennia, he can see I've been somewhat weakened from not being able to return to Hell as freely as the other demons. I've evaded him for the last few centuries, but he's found me in Forks. That was the reaction you saw the other day. He was sending me a warning that he's near and ready for a clash. And I would not put it past him to use a vampire to get to me if he finds out that we're mated, which I'm sure he has or will."

"So you're saying in addition to the complications of… all of this," Rosalie said gesturing between the two of them, "an angel might also be after me too?" The blonde asked in disbelief. Bella rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.

"Sorry?" Bella said, more of a question rather than an apology. Rosalie sighed.

"This is… a lot." Rosalie started. Bella's shoulders sagged a little. But the vampire continued. "But I think I believe you." She said quietly. "I'm not saying I'm fully ready to pursue this bond between us, but I don't want you to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how I feel about this, and I know how a select few of you will feel about this... This was always meant to be the reveal chapter, but it's undergone some changes from the original outline as I've written this story and fleshed out a few more details. As is the way of FanFiction, sometimes it goes in directions you didn't intend and you kind of just go with it, rather than trying to force it to the way you envisioned it at the outset.
> 
> Anyway, I know some of you have been guessing correctly who Bella really is. I thought it was sort of obvious from the get go. Hopefully this answered a few questions. Perhaps sparked a few more. I'm not a perfect writer, but I'm trying my best.


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